Middleboro Review

Lt. Governor Tim Murray's Public Destruction

2012-01-22T11:25:00.006-05:00

It wasn't just lying about a car accident that destroyed Lt. Governor Tim Murray's political future.

How long will Massachusetts voters tolerate corruption and cronyism, accompanied with incompetence?

McLaughlin raised money for Murray, employees say
Fund-raising may have been illegal; worries kept lieutenant governor awake on night of crash
By Sean P. Murphy and Andrea Estes
Globe Staff

To hear Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray tell it, former Chelsea housing chief Michael E. McLaughlin was just a campaign volunteer. Though phone records show that the two men called each other 193 times over the past two years - including one call on a Sunday at 1:30 a.m. - Murray aides insist that McLaughlin played no special role.

But a Globe investigation shows that the former Chelsea housing chief ran an extensive political operation for the lieutenant governor right up until McLaughlin resigned in November amid an uproar over his $360,000 salary. The FBI is investigating whether McLaughlin broke federal laws, questioning housing authority employees about McLaughlin’s political activities and management of the agency.

More than two dozen politicians, housing authority employees, and Murray campaign workers say that McLaughlin was a key fund-raiser and organizer for the lieutenant governor even though, as a federally funded employee, McLaughlin was barred from most political activity, especially at work.

Housing authority employees portray a workplace that McLaughlin had turned into a political machine, inappropriately pressuring workers to give time or money to Murray’s campaign and others’.

“Mike made it clear we had to go to this rally [for Murray and running mate Deval Patrick] and that we had to bring our families,’’ said one employee, who asked to remain anonymous because of fear of retaliation. “He wouldn’t let up on it. He kept asking, ‘Who are you bringing?’’’ McLaughlin also provided buses to take elderly public housing residents to a 2006 rally for Murray and Patrick, and records suggest that the housing authority footed the bill, which would violate state and federal law. The only record of payment for buses around the time of the rally is an expenditure of $850 in housing authority funds.

And several employees told the Globe that McLaughlin’s aides sometimes asked for significant cash donations to Murray and other politicians, donations that do not appear in campaign reports. “He always wanted it in cash. No checks,’’ said one employee.

If cash gifts of $50 or more were collected, it would be a serious breach of campaign law.

Campaign presence

Murray aides flatly deny that McLaughlin was ever a fund-raiser for the lieutenant governor, insisting that he was merely a campaign volunteer, which would be legal if he volunteered on his own time. They say they know nothing about any cash contributions collected by McLaughlin or his aides and note that Murray has already returned or given to charity all donations from McLaughlin, his family, and some associates.

“From what we saw, [McLaughlin] did not host a fund-raiser or have his name attached to anything concerning a fund-raiser,’’ said Murray spokesman Scott Ferson. “Did he do other stuff we didn’t know about? I have no idea.’’

McLaughlin, who is facing an array of state and federal investigations into his conduct as Chelsea housing chief, declined through his attorney to comment.

While publicly downplaying his ties to McLaughlin, Murray has told confidants that the scandal over McLaughlin’s extraordinary pay kept him awake the night before his mysterious high-speed crash on Nov. 2. Murray had talked to McLaughlin several times while the Globe was preparing an article about McLaughlin’s salary, phone records show, but Murray said he didn’t know the salary amount until the story was published on Oct. 30. The report triggered multiple investigations.

Murray “felt betrayed. He felt played’’ by McLaughlin, explained one person close to the lieutenant governor. Restless, Murray went out for an early-morning drive to clear his head.

The drive ended abruptly at 5:26 a.m. when his state-owned Crown Victoria slammed into a rock ledge along Interstate 190 at a speed in excess of 90 miles per hour, rolling over twice and triggering the political crisis of his career. Murray’s shifting accounts of how he came to be driving so early in the morning and why he crashed have raised so many questions that he recently hired Ferson, a crisis communications specialist, to handle the fall-out.

Fund-raising rules

Legally, McLaughlin is not permitted to raise money for politicians at all because, as an employee of an agency that receives federal funding, he is covered by the restrictive Hatch Act. McLaughlin is not allowed to engage in any political activity on the job and he cannot conduct political fund-raising on his personal time either, though he may make personal contributions.

Massachusetts law also prohibits fund-raising by appointed public officials such as McLaughlin and pressuring employees to take part in politics.

Murray campaign officials say they are well aware of the laws and did not violate them. Even though McLaughlin’s phone records show that he and Murray’s professional fund-raiser, Kellie O’Neill, called each other at least 51 times since 2008 - including 11 calls in the weeks before a 2010 fund-raiser where McLaughlin introduced Murray and collected donations - O’Neill said she only discussed issues related to campaign volunteers and personal business.

“I never discuss fund-raising with federal or state employees,’’ she said, when asked about McLaughlin. “The law is clear.’’

Interviews with more than two dozen people who attended Murray fund-raisers or made contributions, as well as a review of campaign records, show that McLaughlin played a central role in organizing at least three fund-raisers for Murray since 2008. Each time, McLaughlin introduced Murray to audiences composed mainly of housing authority officials and McLaughlin associates who typically donated $100 or more to Murray.

“Mike controls it real tight,’’ said one person who was at a 2010 fund-raiser for Murray organized by McLaughlin. “Mike was there taking the checks and putting them in a manila envelope.’’

At each event, people who were there say Murray thanked McLaughlin for his help.

McLaughlin also got Murray’s support in other ways. Less than three weeks after a 2008 fundraiser, McLaughlin’s son Matthew started a $60,000 state job with Murray’s recommendation. Matthew McLaughlin was recently fired for allegedly falsifying attendance records.

Politicians in the Merrimack Valley, where McLaughlin once served as a state representative and municipal official, say they’ve known for a long time that McLaughlin was “Murray’s guy’’ in the region.

“There is no mystery about that,’’ said Israel Reyes, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Lawrence in 2009 with McLaughlin’s backing. “I knew McLaughlin raised money for Murray. I knew because I was in politics. McLaughlin raised money for a host of candidates. . . . He helped me.’’

Operative at work

Numerous current and former Chelsea Housing Authority employees, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media, say that McLaughlin boasted about his close relationship with Murray, though he sometimes groused at what he said the campaign wanted him to do.

“He was, like, ‘Oh, I’m on the hook for $5,000 - they want $5,000 from me,’ because that’s what he was - a fund-raiser,’’ one employee recalled. “That’s when he would put the squeeze on. He’d get on the phone, calling his friends, raising money.’’

Housing authority employees say McLaughlin never directly ordered them to give money or help candidates, but he would cajole them to help with campaigns and, on at least one occasion, someone stuffed information about a 2010 Murray fund-raiser into employee mailboxes.

Workers said it was clear what the boss wanted, and that the pressure to comply was unmistakable. As one employee said, “If you were good to Mike, he was good to you.’’

One maintenance worker said he bought a $100 ticket to a Murray fund-raiser at the cozy Irish Cottage restaurant in Methuen on June 25, 2010, because he knew that other authority employees were going. At least 22 housing authority employees, outside professionals, and their relatives contributed in connection with the event, campaign records show, which brought in nearly $10,000 from people with ties to McLaughlin.

“I didn’t want to look like the one who didn’t [contribute], that I’m the one who didn’t support him,’’ said this employee.

Political fund-raising “was pretty much done in the open,’’ said another employee who remembered donating cash for Murray’s campaign at the office, though there is no record of such a donation. “[James] McNichols or [Paul] McCarthy would say, ‘Hey, I need $100.’ That was the usual amount. . . . Sometimes there were tickets. Tickets to some event. But I didn’t want the damn tickets.’’

McNichols was the authority’s accountant and a close friend of McLaughlin now under investigation for shredding records; McCarthy is a former authority employee.

It is not clear what became of the cash donations that employees say they gave to McLaughlin’s associates, but state law bans cash donations of $50 or more, and cash donations of any amount must be itemized and the donors identified.

The Murray campaign provided a list of recent cash contributors, but it did not include any of the three housing employees who told the Globe they gave cash to McLaughlin’s aides purportedly for Murray. Ferson said the campaign knows nothing about them and that Murray does not accept cash contributions over the $50 limit.

Political injury after crash

Murray was alone in his state-owned Crown Victoria when he went off Interstate 190 early on Nov. 2, demolishing the vehicle but, remarkably, leaving him without serious physical injuries. The political injury, however, was substantial as Murray repeatedly changed his account of the event.

The lieutenant governor initially said he was inspecting damage from a late-fall snowstorm - though it was dark - and picking up coffee and a newspaper. Later, Murray said he went out after his daughter got into bed with him and his wife and woke him up.

Pinpointing the cause of the accident proved no less elusive. Murray initially agreed with State Police investigators who said the vehicle slid on black ice, but he later agreed with State Police analysts who concluded that he probably fell asleep at the wheel, based on data from the vehicle’s black box.

Now, it appears that the precipitous fall of McLaughlin - and the resulting state and federal investigations - may have provided the backdrop for the whole episode, spurring Murray to take the early-morning ride.

The lieutenant governor felt angry at McLaughlin, explained the person close to Murray, and surprised by his deceptions.

“Now, everybody is saying it was so obvious that McLaughlin was such a bad guy. But it wasn’t’’ prior to the Oct. 30 revelations about McLaughlin’s high salary, according to this person.

McLaughlin, 66, had, however, long been a controversial figure who had been repeatedly investigated but never prosecuted for ethical lapses. When he was named director of Chelsea Housing in 2000, Chelsea city manager Guy Santagate objected, warning that McLaughlin would pull the city back into the bad old days of corruption.

Murray should have known all this, said one Merrimack Valley official, because at least two people told him about McLaughlin’s background.

“He was warned that Mike McLaughlin was dangerous,’’ said this official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid alienating the Patrick administration.

Political favors

But McLaughlin was eager to help Murray from the day they met, said Boston City Council president Stephen Murphy, who introduced them in 2005. At the time, Murray was the 37-year-old mayor of Worcester getting ready for his first statewide run for office, while McLaughlin was a veteran pol whom Murphy knew from his own statewide campaign for treasurer.

“Mike McLaughlin just married [Murray],’’ said Murphy, noting that he shares Murray’s outrage over McLaughlin’s salary at the housing authority.

Over time, McLaughlin’s value to Murray became obvious, according to one Murray campaign worker who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation.

McLaughlin “rang the bell for him [Murray],’’ said this worker. “Mike got it done: Delegates, people, organization, money.’’

McLaughlin reveled in his proximity to power, say his former employees, and the help he could get from the lieutenant governor. Murray once angrily called former labor secretary Suzanne Bump when she fired one of McLaughlin’s old friends, John Zimini, according to someone who was briefed about the call. Murray later helped Zimini find a new job at a quasi-public state agency. In addition, Murray recommended people to housing authority boards on McLaughlin’s word, giving McLaughlin added clout.

McLaughlin kept in close touch with Murray, calling him frequently whether he was working or on vacation. A week before the Globe story that disclosed McLaughlin’s salary, McLaughlin told Murray that the Globe was preparing an article and outlined his plan to counter the bad news by getting a political consultant to write a favorable article about McLaughlin’s career.

A few days after the Globe story, consultant Michael Goldman wrote a column in The Sun of Lowell that glowingly described McLaughlin as “a warrior from the old school.’’ Goldman acknowledges that McLaughlin asked him to write the column.

But Murray’s consultant Ferson said the lieutenant governor had no idea that McLaughlin made $360,000 until the Globe story and the lieutenant governor has no recollection of discussing Goldman’s planned column with McLaughlin.

“It is [Murray’s] recollection that there was a call in which McLaughlin said ‘Ah, the Globe is working on a story, but don’t worry about it,’’’ said Ferson. “It was days before the story came out.’’

Ferson said most of Murray’s conversations with McLaughlin in October centered on the Dracut Housing Authority, to which Murray had recommended a board member at McLaughlin’s behest. Murray was upset that the new appointee had immediately attempted to oust the executive director in a move widely seen as orchestrated by McLaughlin to create a vacancy for a friend.

As a result, Ferson said, Murray was miffed with McLaughlin even before he discovered McLaughlin’s salary and the lieutenant governor hasn’t spoken to him since.

Ferson insists that Murray has told the truth about his accident, noting that he has long gone out for drives alone to collect his thoughts and he really was concerned about the damage from the October Nor’easter. If the lieutenant had a second chance to explain why he was out driving around, however, Ferson said he would have kept it simple:

“He would have said, ‘I couldn’t sleep.’ ’’

Scott Allen and Matt Carroll of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

Lt. Gov. Tim Murray was driving 100 mph at time of Nov. crash, may have fallen asleep at the wheel

BP's Crude

2012-01-22T09:45:00.002-05:00

A seed for the mind - a British video protesting BP that is as beautiful as it is like a mental dagger http://youtu.be/cCsfwsE6Gbk

Oil Painting Protest over BP sponsorship in Tate Modern Turbine Hall
Liberate Tate calls for footprint of art museum to be free from Big Oil

Tuesday (14 September) art activists from Liberate Tate staged a guerrilla art intervention in Tate Modern, covering the floor of the iconic Turbine Hall with dozens of litres of oil paint in protest at the museum taking sponsorship from BP.

The flash mob-style event was staged a day before a Tate Board of Trustees meeting. Liberate Tate are part of a growing public movement calling on Tate's governing body to end its sponsorship agreement with the oil company. Tate's Board of Trustees has decided to review the BP corporate sponsorship.

At 5pm, around 50 figures dressed in black entered the gallery each carrying a BP-branded oil paint tube. In a circle they placed the paint tubes on the floor and each stamped on one, spraying out dozens of litres of paint in a huge burst across the floor. The installation art work, 'Crude', was then signed 'Liberate Tate' and offered to Tate for its collection.

Blake Williams, a participant in the performance, said: "Ten years ago tobacco companies were seen as respectable partners for public institutions. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has brought home to an even wider public that the impact of big oil companies like BP on the environment and the global climate makes them equally unethical for an art museum, especially one that purports to demonstrate leadership in response to climate change."

Tate's latest annual report (2009/10), released this month, claims "sustainability is a prime consideration throughout Tate's work". Tate reduced its energy use and overall carbon emissions last year and makes much of its partnership with the Carbon Trust and that it was a founding signatory to the national 10:10 campaign, launched at Tate Modern, aiming to reduce carbon emissions by 10% in 2010.

Liberate Tate said: "Tate has so far chosen to take a very narrow view of its footprint in relation to climate change and to not yet take into ...

When Mitt Romney Came to Town....

2012-01-17T07:24:00.003-05:00

Interesting video worth watching in its entirety.

Gingrich Film Slams Romney, Angers Republicans
By Reader Supported News

The video above, titled "When Mitt Romney Came to Town," was produced by a so-called "Super PAC" named "Winning Our Future." While Winning Our Future states on its website: "Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee," they also go on to say, "Winning Our Future means nominating Former Speaker Newt Gingrich for President in 2012. And advancing that goal is what Winning Our Future is all about."

The backing for Winning Our Future appears to come in large part from Gingrich's friend and longtime associate, billionaire gambling mogul Sheldon Adelson. According to the New York Times, Adelson staked Winning Our Future with a $5 million war chest.

"When Mitt Romney Came to Town" appears to have been a component of Mr. Gingrich's strategy for defeating Mr. Romney for the Republican presidential nomination. However, Gingrich, under pressure from Republican power brokers to tone down the criticism, has now backed away from the film citing "inaccuracies" and saying, "I am calling on them to either edit out every single mistake or pull the entire film." -- RSN Staff

Mitt Romney. Was he a job creator or a corporate raider?

That's the question this film answers.

And it's not pretty.

Mitt Romney was not a capitalist during his reign at Bain. He was a predatory corporate raider. His firm didn't seek to create value. Instead, like a scavenger, Romney looked for businesses he could pick apart. Indeed, he represented the worst possible kind of predator, operating within the law but well outside the bounds of what most real capitalists consider ethical.

He is exhibit number one the left wants to use in the coming election to give capitalism a bad name.

He and his friends at Bain were bad guys. Any real capitalists should disavow Romney's 'creative destruction' model that made him wealthy at the expense of thousands of American jobs.

Mitt Romney and his cronies pioneered 'deindustrialization,' a process by which they searched out vulnerable companies, took them over, loaded them with debt, and collected obscene fees while doing so. He sent jobs overseas or killed them altogether, and then picked apart the remains - including pension funds - before the companies went bankrupt.

Some might call that the free market. Most of us think its just plain wrong.

If you wonder why America has lost so many manufacturing jobs overseas, look no further than Mitt Romney -- the King of Bain.

Think you know Mitt?

Think again...

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Paid for by Winning Our Future.
http://www.winningourfuture.com
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Revolving Door

2012-01-12T15:31:00.002-05:00

Some things are so egregious, they need to be circulated.

This needs to change!

Revolving Door: From Top Futures Regulator to Top Futures Lobbyist

While America focused on New Hampshire, a classic example of revolving-door politics took place in Washington, going almost completely unnoticed. It’s a move that ranks up there with the hire of Louisiana congressman Billy Tauzin to head the pharmaceutical lobbying conglomerate PhRMA -- at a salary of over $2 million a year -- immediately after Tauzin helped ram through the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill, a huge handout to the pharmaceutical industry.

In this case, the hire involves Walter Lukken, who toward the end of the Bush years was the acting head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. As the chief regulator of the commodities markets, it was Lukken’s job to spot and combat speculative abuses and manipulations that might have led to artificial price hikes and other disruptions.

In 2008, the last full year of his tenure, Lukken presided over some of the worst chaos in the commodities markets in recent history, with major disruptions in the markets for food products like wheat, cotton, soybeans, and rice, and energy commodities like oil.

Most notoriously, 2008 saw a historic spike in the price of oil futures, an enormously destructive speculative bubble that peaked in July of that year at the lunatic high price of $146 per barrel (Goldman, Sachs at the height of the mania was telling investors oil might go to $200 a barrel).

It was Lukken’s job to spot the speculative abuses leading to disruptions like that bubble, but he didn’t do it. Instead, he repeatedly insisted that there was nothing untoward going on, most notoriously through testimony before the House and the Senate at the height of the oil boom.

In testimony that summer, Lukken continually insisted that the price surge was due to normal supply-and-demand forces, ignoring the far more obvious explanation of a massive inflow of cash from commodity index speculators.

Despite data showing that the amount of commodity index speculation had grown from $13 billion in 2003 to more than $260 billion as of March 2008 -- in other words, the amount of money betting on a rise in commodity prices had risen by a factor of twenty during that time -- Lukken on May 7, 2008 told the Senate that a more likely explanation for the surge could be found in the growth of industrial demand from places like China, and also, get this, in changes in the weather:

These are extraordinary times for our markets with commodity futures prices at unprecedented levels. In the last three months, the agricultural staples of wheat, corn, soybeans, rice and oats have hit all-time highs. We have also witnessed record prices in crude oil, gasoline and other related energy products. Broadly speaking, the falling dollar, strong demand from the emerging world economies, global political unrest, detrimental weather and ethanol mandates have driven up commodity futures prices across-the-board.

On top of these trends, the emergence of the sub-prime crisis last summer led investors to increasingly seek portfolio exposure in commodity futures. As the federal regulator of these products, the CFTC is closely monitoring these growing markets to ensure they are working properly for farmers, investors, and consumers. To date, CFTC staff analysis indicates that the current higher futures prices generally are not a result of manipulative forces.

By insisting that the spike was “not a result of manipulative forces,” Lukken helped Wall Street in its efforts to avoid reforms that might have prevented such abuses, like the closing of a series of loopholes and exemptions that allowed a handful of major speculators to play a lopsided role in the setting of commodity prices.

So what was Lukken’s reward for helping the financial services industry avoid such reforms? Well, Lukken has just been named to head the Futures Industry Association, or FIA, the chief lobbying arm of futures investors.

This follows the Tauzin pattern of revolving-door hires: a government official carries water for a powerful industry, then moves on to take the cushy job with the industry’s lobbying arm once he leaves office.

Among people who follow these markets for a living, the Lukken hire had an embarrassingly over-the-top quality, like a CEO who goes the appearances-be-damned route and puts his 23 year-old secretary/mistress on the board of directors.

Mike Masters is head of the Masters Capital Management hedge fund and also chairman of Better Markets, a new non-profit advocacy group that promotes the public interest in the labyrinthine vagaries of the financial markets, and especially the commodities markets. He describes the hiring of Lukken as an extreme example of revolving-door politics.
“It’s not the revolving door. It’s the express elevator,” he says.

Masters remembers Lukken because the two men both testified before the Senate in that summer of 2008; he recalls watching the CFTC chief, aghast, when the latter continued to insist that there was nothing abnormal going on in the commodities world, despite a historic series of disruptions.

“And it wasn’t just oil,” Masters says. “There was the debacle in the wheat markets, with cotton, with soybeans and corn, there were riots in the Phillipines over the rice markets. And Lukken was saying everything’s okay. It was crazy.”

It was a see-no-evil, hear-no-evil approach to government oversight, which had far-reaching consequences in that crisis year. The CFTC, remember, also has purview over derivatives, meaning the failure to prevent the disastrous swap positions accumulated by the likes of AIG also falls, in part anyway, at the CFTC's doorstep.

A Dow Jones news story contained a hilarious summary of Lukken’s blase administrative style, in which he was described as having downplayed the whole being-a-stickler-for-rules aspect of regulation:

When Lukken headed the CFTC, he backed a more flexible, "principles-based" approach to regulation, different from what was seen as the prescriptive and "rule-based" methods employed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which polices stock markets.

Obviously this kind of thing has been going on forever in Washington, but some revolving-door hires feel worse and more shameless than others, and this is one of those. But really it's the same old story: regulators keep falling down on the job, and keep getting rewarded for it by Wall Street, and nothing gets done about it.

More scars upon the land

2012-01-12T07:09:00.004-05:00

In West Virginia, coal companies are pumping coal sludge (the toxic byproduct of washing coal) underground, poisoning the well water for thousands in our state. The Sludge Safety Project, a collaboration of Coal River Mountain Watch, the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and mountain communities, is pushing for a law to ban underground coal sludge injection and protect our waters.

Update: Challenging Permits on Coal River Mountain

We continue to challenge the mountaintop removal mining permits on Coal River Mountain:

•CRMW co-director Debbie Jarrell, Citizen Enforcement Project Coordinator Rob Goodwin, and other local residents are appealing the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)'s decision to approve the Collins Fork permit, a 250-acre strip mining permit on Coal River Mountain that was approved in October. They are arguing that DEP failed to properly evaluate the cumulative effects of strip mining in the watershed of the Clear Fork of the Coal River, including the impact on human health. DEP also refused to grant CRMW an inspection of the permit prior to the permit hearing and the agency also blatantly disregarded a clear statute requiring the hearing on the permit to be held within 3 weeks after the end of the comment period; instead the hearing was held 3 years later. The hearing for the permit appeal was originally scheduled for January 11 but has been postponed until February 14.

•We just filed a complaint with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection over the Eagle II permit, the largest mountaintop removal permit on Coal River Mountain, covering 2,000 acres. This permit was granted in 2008 and has not yet been started. According to federal law, any permit which does not start within 3 years of being issued is automatically terminated. Eagle II is one example of what appears to be Alpha/Massey's strategy of getting permits for areas that they have no immediate intention to mine before they are faced with stricter regulations and more science clearly proving the irreversible impacts of mountaintop removal. We are still awaiting DEP's response to this complaint.

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Stand With These Three Appalachian Communities And Help Stop Mountaintop Removal Mining

My name is Donna Branham, and I live in Mingo County, West Virginia. I’ve seen first-hand the results of mountaintop removal mining, an extremely destructive form of coal mining that entails blowing up mountains, removing the tops, and dumping the rubble into streams, filling entire valleys and waterways. My family’s homeplace was destroyed by it, and the ruthlessness of the coal mining industry. Our drinking water was contaminated, and blasting shook our house and our community every day. We also dealt with extreme dust pollution and noise pollution, and flyrock, or large boulders that the explosion spits out through the air. I’m so thankful that people like you are getting involved in this fight. I’ve been in this for 20 years, and for so long, I felt like I stood alone. One voice doesn’t go very far. Many voices do. I am asking you to join this chorus of voices so that we are heard by our nation’s leaders.
Please take action now and help stop mountaintop removal mining.

Donna’s story is not unique—there are families across Appalachia who are living with the same injustice. Across this ancient mountain range, coal companies are blowing up mountains, burying streams, and contaminating waters—forever altering in the most extreme way possible our nation’s landscape and contaminating drinking water supplies for local communities.

The health impacts of this radically destructive form of mining are staggering. No one can survive without clean water, and scientific research shows that people living near mountaintop removal mines face greater threats to their health and their lives. Cancer rates are two times higher in areas of mountaintop removal mining; babies born near mountaintop removal mining are 26 percent more likely to be born with birth defects as well. How long will we let this go on?

President Obama and his administration have shown a strong commitment to the law and science by vetoing one of the largest mountaintop removal mines ever proposed, Spruce No. 1 Mine in West Virginia. But coal companies and their lobbyists are pushing for more than 100 new mountaintop removal mining permits, seeking permission to blow more mountains up and destroy more mountain streams in even more communities. When so many local communities are facing the same level of devastation, one permit denied is just not enough.

If the Obama administration issues more unlawful and harmful permits, violating the very purpose of the Clean Water Act to protect the integrity of our nation’s waters, coal companies could fill over 300 more valleys, level over 30,000 more mountain acres, destroy over 100 miles of streams, and pollute many more local waterways. The stakes could not be higher.

It’s not too late to stop more harmful mining permits from going forward. Please tell the Obama administration now to stop these mines.

Read about three permits in particular that must be denied immediately: HERE

The Massachusetts Double Standard

2012-01-07T14:58:00.004-05:00

Swallow your morning coffee before you read that someone, anyone would support this buffoon for Governor. Haven't we witnessed enough corruption, arrogance and back room deals from this Administration that was going to change the "Big Dig" culture?

The Lt. Governor had a car accident and then created assorted versions and various contradictions, can't remember if it was the Herald or the Boston Globe he bought or was going to buy.

This isn't about the car accident.

It's more about the stupidity of the Lt. Governor and about the out-of-touch Governor's unjustified defense.

This clown is mired in the Chelsea Housing Scandal and Buying a judgeship for $39,775?

How many more lies will he tell? Refusing to provide cell phone records says it all.

Any other private citizen would have had their cell phone checked at the scene and been charged. Not so in Massachusetts where privilege prevails until the ballot box.

This was a sorely needed wake-up call to voters about some overdue housecleaning.

Tim Murray’s political adviser shifts to crisis management after car crash
By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

Still under fire for his unusual Nov. 2 car crash, Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray has asked his longtime political adviser to take on a more formal paid role in responding to the wave of media questions that have overwhelmed his staff in recent days.

Scott M. Ferson, a former spokesman for Senator Edward M. Kennedy [and for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe] and president of the Liberty Square Group, said he has advised Murray regularly and informally on media relations and political strategy since he first ran for lieutenant governor six years ago.

“From time-to-time, he needs more of my time and he’ll pay me and this is one of those times,” Ferson said. “I’m just helping him out more formally.”

Ferson said he will be paid by Murray’s political committee, but has not yet sent a bill.

Ferson’s more formal position is another indication of Murray’s increasing concern that the 5:30 a.m. high speed car crash could endanger his political future. [It already has!]

He has been projected as a likely gubernatorial contender in 2014, when Governor Deval Patrick wraps up when he says is his second and final term. [In whose dreams?]

On Tuesday, the Massachusetts State Police released data retrieved from the car’s “black box” that contradicted Murray’s previous statements that he was driving the speed limit, wearing a seat belt, and that the crash was caused by black ice.

State police said they suspect he had fallen asleep behind the wheel and was going over 100 miles per hour before the crash.

The day after the black box data were released, Murray appeared tense and distracted as he chaired the weekly meeting of the Governor’s Council.

Murray’s official spokeswoman, Lauren Jones, said in a statement that his staff will continue to field questions about the lieutenant governor’s activities.

“Inquiries about the lieutenant governor’s official duties have been and will be handled by press staff in the Executive Office,” she wrote. “Inquiries about political issues have been and will be handled by the lieutenant governor’s political committee.”

New photos shed light on Mass. Lt. Governor Murray's car wreck
Mike Beaudet
Kevin Rothstein, Producer

BOSTON (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - As just-released photos shed new light on Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray’s car crash, the state’s second-in-command is trying hard to return to normal work at the State House despite being dogged by discrepancies in his story.

After chairing a meeting of the Governor’s Council earlier today, Murray again answered questions from reporters about what happened when he drove off Interstate 190 in the pre-dawn hours of November 2.

“Are you worried about your credibility being questioned because of the inconsistencies?” asked FOX Undercover reporter Mike Beaudet.

“Listen, this was an accident. It happened very quickly and I've taken responsibility for that. I don't know what more I can say other than that I’m anxious to get back to work,” Murray replied.

Murray initially told State Police, according to the agency’s reports, that he was driving within the 65-mile-per-hour speed limit and wearing his seat belt when he skidded on black ice.

He also told reporters hours after the crash that he left his house to buy a coffee and a Boston Herald and inspect damage from the recent storm.

An inspection of the photos shows a Boston Globe, but no Herald or coffee cup in the wrecked car. After asking a Murray spokesman about the missing Herald, a Murray spokesperson now tells FOX Undercover he did not buy the coffee or Herald despite being on the road for more than 40 minutes.

Murray’s original story is also compromised by the vehicle’s black box data, released after a FOX Undercover public records request. The data shows he was far exceeding the speed limit, not wearing his seat belt, and did not skid on black ice.

Now Murray thinks he fell asleep, but he can’t say for sure. State Police said his car followed the actions of someone who was sleeping behind the wheel.

“It’s the only reasonable explanation that I have and can understand how this happened. It happened in a matter of seconds. It was something that was obviously very traumatic,” Murray said.

An accident reconstruction expert, Bruce McNally of New Hampshire, who reviewed the black box data says, “There is no indication that the driver fell asleep.”

He says the data shows Murray didn't just accelerate; he pressed the gas pedal to the floor.

Despite the questions, Gov. Deval Patrick is standing by his number two, saying he sees no reason to call for an independent investigation.

“I know this man. I care about him. I've never had an accident as serious as this one, but I’ve been in an accident before and I know how it happens instantly and I know how flawed people’s accounts of them often are, and I think as I say the most important thing for me and I think most residents of the Commonwealth is to thank God he's OK and no one else was hurt,” Patrick said.

Murray says he will pay the $555 in fines the State Police have given him for speeding and other violations, and pay to replace his car.

Murray also asked for, and was given, a breathalyzer test at the scene. He said he blew a zero, but in response to a FOX Undercover public records request for the report, a State Police spokesman says he knows of no written record of a test, which was apparently done in the field and not recorded.

Gov. Deval Patrick says he still trusts Lt. Gov. Tim Murray -- and it’s time to move on from crash controversy

Gov. Patrick bypasses crash scandal

Columnist Dianne Williamson: Crash data doesn't solve mystery

Lt. Gov. Tim Murray denies cell records
Info withheld as wreck photos released
By Chris Cassidy, O’Ryan Johnson and Laurel J. Sweet

Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, still swerving around unanswered questions about his death-defying, high-speed car crash in Sterling, has refused to turn over to the Herald his cellphone records from the days surrounding the Nov. 2 wreck of his state-issued Crown Victoria.

Deputy Chief Legal Counsel E. Abim Thomas said records of the Office of the Governor are not “subject to disclosure under the public records law,” in a letter to the Herald yesterday.

Besides, Thomas continued, “The Office of the Governor does not receive itemized bills from our phone company for our telephone and text services.”

The Herald requested the governor’s office obtain itemized cellphone and text message bills from its service provider if it did not have the information readily available. Thomas did not address that point in his response.

The Herald is appealing the ruling to Secretary of State William F. Galvin.

State police, meanwhile, yesterday released 126 new photos of the unmarked police cruiser the politician totalled when, he said, he fell asleep at the wheel while surveying storm damage and grabbing a coffee and newspaper at about 5:26 a.m. on Nov. 2.

Initially, Murray told state police and the media he was going the speed limit and wearing his seat belt when he hit a patch of black ice on Interstate 190. Data from the car’s black box — released by state police Tuesday in response to a Herald public records law request — revealed Murray was not wearing a seat belt and hit speeds up to 108 mph as he careened 140 snowy feet before hitting a rock ledge and rolling the Crown Victoria.

As to why the crash-scene photos were being released two months later, state police spokesman David Procopio said, “We just released them as part of the release of the materials related to the crash.”

Murray was slapped with a $555 ticket for the accident he miraculously walked away from.

“Operating to endanger is a discretionary charge. Negligent operation is a discretionary charge,” Procopio said. “In a crash like this, where nobody else was hurt, and no other vehicles were involved, we would not charge that person.”

Murray’s spokeswoman Lauren Jones yesterday told the Herald her boss “has made public all information our office and the state police have regarding the accident, and he has been willing to answer any and all questions.”

Crash, I’ve got an actual job for you
By Howie Carr

Crash Murray has enough problems trying to keep his various stories straight. But perhaps the Pillsbury Doughboy’s career-ending scandal can serve as a “teachable moment.” So I would like to suggest a new role for Crash.

Perhaps he could become the guy who goes to the state’s high schools in the spring, just before the proms, to show the class of 2012 the dangers of reckless driving.

An email was sent to his flack yesterday asking if he’d be willing to consider such a role. No response was immediately forthcoming.

Murray could handle this very important assignment. Over the past few days, we’ve all been very amused by his statements, with eyes wildly blinking, about how he was out there doing 108 mph in an attempt to “gather his thoughts” for the day.

Listen, your average housecat has more need to gather his thoughts in the morning than Tim Murray. Do you realize the lieutenant governor’s work schedule averages 10 minutes a week? Every Wednesday at noon he chairs the Governor’s Council and ... that’s about it.

“I want to get back to work,” he said the other day. What work? He stood by as state police Col. Marian McGovern “announced a State Police initiative to research trooper safety practices and procedures” at a July press conference.

Here’s the procedure. If a politician crashes his Crown Vic at 108 mph, tell the media it would be an “unnecessary step” to check the readings from the black box. Then stonewall their FOIA requests for two months.

Crash Murray loves these traffic-safety press conferences. A couple of months later, he was in Weymouth, sternly warning motorists to obey the new laws banning texting while driving.

This Crash quote comes from another state press release: “We encourage everyone to spread the word about the ban on texting for everyone.”

Oh man, I can’t wait till we get his cellphone records. Although of course we’ll find nothing there, because as a good liberal Democrat, you know Hurry Murray would never talk the talk while not walking the walk.

Foxes Jumping on my Trampoline

2012-01-06T12:12:00.001-05:00

Foxes Jumping on my Trampoline

Here are a couple of wild foxes jumping on my trampoline. They were having lots of fun! ^_^ Enjoy~!

This is my video, please don't link anywhere without giving me credit, and linking it back here to it's original posting.

Thank you! :)

Destroying Our Environment One Eco-System At A Time

2012-01-02T16:41:00.009-05:00

EARTHQUAKES! Brought to you by Big Energy!

Does Massachusetts have a law that prohibits FRACKING?

Do you think if Beacon Hill was less focused on Predatory Gambling and having their egos stroked by Gambling Lobbyists, they might have worked to protect residents from consequences such as these?

So....we get EARTHQUAKES and Predatory Gambling! Such a deal!

AP: Officials Say Fracking Caused Ohio Earthquake
By Associated Press

Officials said Saturday they believe the latest earthquake activity in northeast Ohio is related to the injection of wastewater into the ground near a fault line, creating enough pressure to cause seismic activity.

The brine wastewater comes from drilling operations that use the so-called fracking process to extract gas from underground shale. But Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Jim Zehringer said during a news teleconference that fracking is not causing the quakes.

"The seismic events are not a direct result of fracking," he said.

Environmentalists and property owners who live near gas drilling wells have questioned the safety of fracking to the environment and public health. Federal regulators have declared the technology safe, however.

Zehringer said four injection wells within a five-mile radius of an already shuttered well in Youngstown will remain inactive while further scientific research is conducted.

A 4.0 magnitude quake Saturday afternoon in McDonald, outside of Youngstown, was the 11th in a series of minor earthquakes in area, many of which have struck near the Youngstown injection well. The quake caused no serious injuries or property damage, Zehringer said.

Thousands of gallons of brine were injected into the well daily until its owner, Northstar Disposal Services LLC, agreed Friday to stop injecting brine into the earth as a precaution while authorities assess any potential links to the quakes.

Michael Hansen of the Ohio Seismic Network said Saturday that more quakes are possible, most likely small ones, until the pressure at the fault line has been completely relieved.

The temblor Saturday appeared to be stronger than others, which generally had a magnitude of 2.7 or lower. Some residents reported feeling trembling farther south into Columbiana County and east into western Pennsylvania.

Area residents said a loud boom accompanied the shaking. It sent some stunned residents running for cover as bookshelves shook and pictures and lamps fell from tables.

A few miles from the epicenter, Charles Kihm said he was preparing food in his kitchen when he heard a noise and thought a vehicle had hit his Austintown home.

"It really shook, and it rumbled, like there was a sound," said Kihm, 82. "It was loud. It didn't last long. But it really scared me."

There are 177 similar injection wells around the state, and the Youngstown-area well has been the only site with seismic activity, the department said. Zehringer said that to shut down all of the wells because of seismic activity near one would be an overreaction.

Patti Gorcheff, who lives about 15 miles from the epicenter, said her dogs started barking inexplicably Saturday and the ornaments on her Christmas tree began to shake. Her husband thought he heard the sound of some sort of blast.

"This is the biggest one we've had so far," said Gorcheff, a North Lima resident who has raised concerns about quakes and drilling-related activity in the region. "I hope this is a wake-up call."

Jingle Bells Holiday Performance

2012-01-02T13:55:00.000-05:00

The Abuse By The Chelsea Housing Authority

2011-12-31T11:06:00.003-05:00

Appreciation to the Boston Globe for their continued coverage of this gross abuse of power --

Chelsea housing tenants suffer, officials benefit
By Maria Sacchetti

CHELSEA - Francine Dorrance, a single mother, was already broke, unemployed, and struggling to recover from a nervous breakdown in summer 2006 when the Chelsea Housing Authority moved to evict her over $276 in unpaid rent.

After a judge approved the eviction, Dorrance became homeless. It would be almost five years before she would again have a permanent address.

But Dorrance’s misfortune was a boon to the housing authority official who oversaw her eviction. Five days after a constable removed Dorrance’s belongings, Jacqueline Matos, a housing manager for the authority, moved into the vacant apartment. Matos still lives there, continuing to pay just $25 a month in rent, a small fraction of what Dorrance paid.

“When I saw Jackie moving in there . . . that killed me,’’ said Dorrance, 46, who now lives in another city with her youngest child.

Matos’s takeover of the apartment - and the ability of her two adult children to obtain their own subsidized apartments - reflects what some residents say is a troubling pattern of unequal treatment.

A Globe examination of court and housing records and interviews with current and former tenants found cases in which insiders received benefits at the expense of the low-income residents the housing authority was supposed to serve.

Former housing director Michael E. McLaughlin, who resigned last month following news reports that he deliberately concealed his $360,000 pay package, liked to boast that he collected every penny of rent tenants owed, sending threatening letters for even small unpaid bills.

But he was generous to inner-circle people such as Matos, whose former husband, James McNichols, is the authority accountant now under investigation for allegedly shredding work documents and authorizing more than $200,000 in questionable payments to McLaughlin on the day McLaughlin resigned.

The Chelsea Housing Authority is the only public housing authority in the state known to give a housing manager an apartment and to charge almost no rent, according to federal and state housing officials. While low-income people are told they could wait up to two years for a subsidized apartment to become available, Matos and two other housing managers live in public housing units for just $300 per year under a program that authority officials say improves tenant safety.

“That’s wrong,’’ said Thomas Connelly, executive director of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. “If they are in there, they should be paying the same rent as any other resident should be paying.’’

Some tenants frowned on the deals, but the housing authority said federal and state housing officials cleared the arrangements for Matos, who lives in Dorrance’s former three-bedroom townhouse with a grassy yard, one of the nicer spots in public housing, and for two other managers, Alexandra Jimenez and Nyomi Peña-Hurley. Each earns around $50,000 a year, according to housing records, and pays $25 a month rent in exchange for running monthly crime watch meetings, monitoring the area, and working extra hours on public safety.

Judy Weber, the court-appointed temporary receiver now in charge of the authority, said that state and federal regulators approved the agreements for all three housing managers and that it was part of a practice that began in 2002. “It was a judgment made by the authority and the regulators at the time, and it was approved,’’ Weber said.

The state Department of Housing and Community Development confirmed that that it approved a subsidized apartment for one Chelsea manager, but agency spokeswoman Mary-Leah Assad said officials are reviewing that decision.

Matos said she did not seek to evict Dorrance to take her apartment and pointed out that a Chelsea District Court judge approved the final eviction. Housing officials said Matos had asked for a different apartment, but was assigned to Dorrance’s.

“It’s a safety issue, and it’s good to have a housing manager on the property,’’ Matos said in an interview. “It just makes things better all around. Ever since I moved there, it’s been much more quiet.’’

Matos moved into Dorrance’s former apartment just as Matos was separating from her husband, according to court records, and at the time the couple owned a Billerica home that later sold for $289,000.

Matos’s two children later got their own apartments in public housing. Her son, Angel Ortiz, 28, stayed there until 2009, when he was charged with raping a 12-year-old girl in Northborough. The charge was initially dismissed in lower court, but a Worcester County grand jury indicted him this month on several charges related to the alleged crime, including child rape. He is to be arraigned next week in Worcester Superior Court.

Housing officials say Matos’s children applied and waited like everyone else, but the state said the Chelsea Housing Authority should have cleared it first with the Department of Housing and Community Development.

Meanwhile, several tenants say they lived under constant threat of eviction during McLaughlin’s 11-year tenure. One woman said the housing authority tried to throw her out after she discovered that officials had overcharged her $22,000. Another faced eviction for not paying a $173 extermination fee. An elderly woman was given three days to vacate a two-bedroom apartment because it was too big for her, sending her to the hospital in a panic.

Housing authorities are allowed to evict tenants over small debts, but, among lawyers who defend poor people facing eviction, Chelsea has a reputation for being particularly aggressive. Despite federal recommendations to housing officials to avoid evicting people over minor debts and to remember that their mission to provide “decent, safe, and sanitary’’ housing for low-income people, Chelsea has raised the threat of eviction over debts as small as $108.15.

The Chelsea Housing Authority “pursued their interests in a very aggressive manner that many tenants experienced as intimidating,’’ said William Berman, a law professor who supervises the Suffolk University Law School’s housing clinic, which has provided free legal aid to tenants in about 100 cases against the housing authority in the last decade. “Some tenants found it difficult to pursue legitimate grievances against the housing authority due to the imbalance of power and the specter of retaliation.’’

Until McLaughlin’s abrupt resignation four days after the Globe reported his salary, the Chelsea Housing Authority was held up as a success story. Almost every year since McLaughlin took over in 2000, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development showered the authority with awards that brought hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonus money while reducing the number of required inspections.

McLaughlin did not respond to a request for comment, but in an October interview, he said he had transformed a badly managed agency into one that collected “100 percent’’ of the rent, including unpaid debts dating to the 1960s. He said he saved $10 million by cutting the staff in half and restricting spending.

“The housing authority is in fantastic shape,’’ said McLaughlin, a longtime Democratic power broker. “That’s cold, hard fact.’’

Now, as the FBI investigates whether McLaughlin illegally diverted federal funds for his own use, his tenure is undergoing a dramatic reappraisal. The entire board of directors resigned under pressure from Governor Deval Patrick, clearing the way for the court-appointed receiver to review all the agency’s policies and procedures.

“From the outside, things looked very good over there,’’ said HUD spokeswoman Rhonda Siciliano. She said her agency’s past praise for Chelsea had been based on a rigorous inspection process, but she admitted: “Obviously there were some things we weren’t aware of. We’re in the process of reviewing that situation.’’

Chelsea is one of the poorest cities in Massachusetts, with a median household income of less than $40,000. Turnover is so rare among the 1,450 public housing units that officials closed some waiting lists with hundreds of applicants two years ago.

Hawa Muya, 21, a Somali refugee who had been living in a shelter with her three children and mother-in-law for four months, left the housing authority offices with bad news when she came looking for a home one day in November.

“They said I could wait two years or one year,’’ Muya said glumly.

Tenants who already live in public housing say that the backlog of demand gives officials an advantage in disagreements, because they can evict tenants without fear that the apartment would stand empty. Several tenants said the authority came down hard against those who challenged them, even when those disputes turned into costly legal battles.

In 2002, tenant Darlene Scuturio turned to the state for help when she faced eviction over the housing authority’s new pet policy. Scuturio asked for a waiver to keep her dog, Ginger, who was over the 20-pound weight limit, saying the pet alleviated stress from her depression and anxiety disorder.

After the authority refused, she filed an antidiscrimination complaint. Then, according to court records, the authority moved to evict her based on alleged lease violations from years earlier.

The state attorney general filed a lawsuit accusing the housing authority of discriminating against Scuturio and retaliating against her by moving for eviction. The state later filed a similar lawsuit on behalf of another tenant, Dianna Stephenson.

In separate settlements, the authority had to pay $78,000 in damages to Stephenson and $20,000 to Scuturio, and housing officials had to adopt policies and undergo training on serving tenants with disabilities.

But by then, Scuturio had suffered an emotional collapse under the constant pressure. She filed for bankruptcy, so she never saw the money, and left public housing to stay with a friend. Later, she had to give up her dog.

“It’s sad,’’ said her brother, Scott Scuturio. “In the end they won.’’

An elderly woman had a similar experience, winning the fight with the authority with the help of a lawyer, but in the end leaving Chelsea public housing.

Hawa Muya, 21, a Somali refugee who had been living in a shelter with her three children and mother-in-law for four months, left the housing authority offices with bad news when she came looking for a home one day in November.

“They said I could wait two years or one year,’’ Muya said glumly.

Tenants who already live in public housing say that the backlog of demand gives officials an advantage in disagreements, because they can evict tenants without fear that the apartment would stand empty. Several tenants said the authority came down hard against those who challenged them, even when those disputes turned into costly legal battles.

In 2002, tenant Darlene Scuturio turned to the state for help when she faced eviction over the housing authority’s new pet policy. Scuturio asked for a waiver to keep her dog, Ginger, who was over the 20-pound weight limit, saying the pet alleviated stress from her depression and anxiety disorder.

After the authority refused, she filed an antidiscrimination complaint. Then, according to court records, the authority moved to evict her based on alleged lease violations from years earlier.

The state attorney general filed a lawsuit accusing the housing authority of discriminating against Scuturio and retaliating against her by moving for eviction. The state later filed a similar lawsuit on behalf of another tenant, Dianna Stephenson.

In separate settlements, the authority had to pay $78,000 in damages to Stephenson and $20,000 to Scuturio, and housing officials had to adopt policies and undergo training on serving tenants with disabilities.

But by then, Scuturio had suffered an emotional collapse under the constant pressure. She filed for bankruptcy, so she never saw the money, and left public housing to stay with a friend. Later, she had to give up her dog.

“It’s sad,’’ said her brother, Scott Scuturio. “In the end they won.’’

An elderly woman had a similar experience, winning the fight with the authority with the help of a lawyer, but in the end leaving Chelsea public housing.

In 2007, Joan Embree was told that she had to surrender her two-bedroom because it was too big for her. If she did not move, officials said, her $236-a-month rent would more than double.

Embree had lived on Exeter Street for almost 30 years, near relatives who fed and cared for her. She resisted moving to the unfamiliar high-rise that officials had selected, saying she felt it was unsafe. But that summer, Matos told her the movers were coming in three days to take her there, to an apartment she had never seen.

Bedlam ensued. Embree’s elderly sister confronted Matos, who reported the sister to the Chelsea police. Embree suffered a panic attack that landed her in the hospital.

Embree’s lawyer, Betsey Crimmins, threatened to go to court, halting the move. Embree said she later agreed to move to another building when a spot opened, then balked when she visited and spotted cockroaches. Instead, she moved in with relatives until she could get housing in another city.

“She was an anxious woman to begin with,’’ Crimmins said. “It definitely caused her psychological distress.’’

A third tenant gave up her claim that the authority owed her $22,000 in rent overcharges to avoid losing her home.

Milagros Irizarry said the authority tried to evict her after she told them in 2007 that they had overcharged her $22,000 in rent over several years, according to records in Chelsea District Court. Tenants pay a portion of their income in rent, typically 30 percent, but Irizarry said the housing authority incorrectly counted adoption subsidies as earnings.

Housing officials denied the overpayment in court records, but acknowledged they offered Irizarry three months’ free rent to settle the dispute. After she refused, housing officials accused Irizarry of allowing her daughter to live with her in the past without permission, and moved to evict her. In court documents, Irizarry said that a housing official threatened to “see to it she never lived in housing again.’’

As a trial, and the possibility of eviction, loomed in 2009, Irizarry dropped the claim so that she could stay in public housing, said her lawyer, Stephen Callahan of the Suffolk University Law School housing clinic.

Once a tenant is kicked out of public housing, he said, it is difficult to get housing anywhere else, even in a homeless shelter.

“It’s kind of a housing death penalty,’’ Callahan said.

Francine Dorrance would be homeless for several years, after a judge ordered her evicted in 2006. Dorrance, who suffers from mental illness and lives on disability, had lived in public housing for many years and had clashed with McLaughlin’s staff before. With a lawyer’s aid, Dorrance successfully fought eviction in 2004 after she withheld rent to force them to make repairs in her apartment.

But in 2006, she did not think she needed a lawyer. In court documents, she said her disability check never arrived, so she could not pay her rent. She signed an agreement pledging to pay on time, but the next month the check was missing again.

Within days, she was on the street. The state had already placed her two daughters in her mother’s care because of unrelated issues, Dorrance said, and her son went to live with his father.

Finally, this year, she was able to find an affordable apartment in another city in Massachusetts, though it is a struggle. She has regained custody of her youngest daughter; the others are adults.

“When they evicted me, my whole life was ruined,’’ said Dorrance. “Do you know how it feels to walk on the street having nowhere to go?’’

A month after Dorrance was evicted, the housing authority filed criminal fraud charges against her, saying she had concealed income and owed thousands of dollars in rent. A year and five months later, the charges were dismissed.

Dorrance quietly went away. She did not say a word about the housing authority, until the Globe requested an interview.

“I was tired of fighting,’’ she said. “And who was going to believe me? They had so much pull, I felt; nobody is going to listen to me.’’

Suddenly Anti-Environmentalists

2011-12-27T06:50:00.005-05:00

Ignoring the invisible health hazards of mercury contamination caused by coal fired power plants for more than 20 years has been a sorry legacy of the Big Polluters who generously fund campaigns, as just a quick review of Coal Mining indicates. Their false drum beat of "job loss" are likely to grow louder with approaching elections.

For today? Savor a victory for the environment!

Springtime for Toxics
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Here’s what I wanted for Christmas: something that would make us both healthier and richer. And since I was just making a wish, why not ask that Americans get smarter, too?

Surprise: I got my wish, in the form of new Environmental Protection Agency standards on mercury and air toxics for power plants. These rules are long overdue: we were supposed to start regulating mercury more than 20 years ago. But the rules are finally here, and will deliver huge benefits at only modest cost.

So, naturally, Republicans are furious. But before I get to the politics, let’s talk about what a good thing the E.P.A. just did.

As far as I can tell, even opponents of environmental regulation admit that mercury is nasty stuff. It’s a potent neurotoxicant: the expression “mad as a hatter” emerged in the 19th century because hat makers of the time treated fur with mercury compounds, and often suffered nerve and mental damage as a result.

Hat makers no longer use mercury (and who wears hats these days?), but a lot of mercury gets into the atmosphere from old coal-burning power plants that lack modern pollution controls. From there it gets into the water, where microbes turn it into methylmercury, which builds up in fish. And what happens then? The E.P.A. explains: “Methylmercury exposure is a particular concern for women of childbearing age, unborn babies and young children, because studies have linked high levels of methylmercury to damage to the developing nervous system, which can impair children’s ability to think and learn.”

That sort of sounds like something we should regulate, doesn’t it?

The new rules would also have the effect of reducing fine particle pollution, which is a known source of many health problems, from asthma to heart attacks. In fact, the benefits of reduced fine particle pollution account for most of the quantifiable gains from the new rules. The key word here is “quantifiable”: E.P.A.’s cost-benefit analysis only considers one benefit of mercury regulation, the reduced loss in future wages for children whose I.Q.’s are damaged by eating fish caught by freshwater anglers. There are without doubt many other benefits to cutting mercury emissions, but at this point the agency doesn’t know how to put a dollar figure on those benefits.

Even so, the payoff to the new rules is huge: up to $90 billion a year in benefits compared with around $10 billion a year of costs in the form of slightly higher electricity prices. This is, as David Roberts of Grist says, a very big deal.

And it’s a deal Republicans very much want to kill.

With everything else that has been going on in U.S. politics recently, the G.O.P.’s radical anti-environmental turn hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. But something remarkable has happened on this front. Only a few years ago, it seemed possible to be both a Republican in good standing and a serious environmentalist; during the 2008 campaign John McCain warned of the dangers of global warming and proposed a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions. Today, however, the party line is that we must not only avoid any new environmental regulations but roll back the protection we already have.

And I’m not exaggerating: during the fight over the debt ceiling, Republicans tried to attach riders that, as Time magazine put it, would essentially have blocked the E.P.A. and the Interior Department from doing their jobs.

Oh, by the way, you may have heard reports to the effect that Jon Huntsman is different. And he did indeed once say: “Conservation is conservative. I’m not ashamed to be a conservationist.” Never mind: he, too, has been assimilated by the anti-environmental Borg, denouncing the E.P.A.’s “regulatory reign of terror,” and predicting that the new rules will cause blackouts by next summer, which would be a neat trick considering that the rules won’t even have taken effect yet.

More generally, whenever you hear dire predictions about the effects of pollution regulation, you should know that special interests always make such predictions, and are always wrong. For example, power companies claimed that rules on acid rain would disrupt electricity supply and lead to soaring rates; none of that happened, and the acid rain program has become a shining example of how environmentalism and economic growth can go hand in hand.

But again, never mind: mindless opposition to “job killing” regulations is now part of what it means to be a Republican. And I have to admit that this puts something of a damper on my mood: the E.P.A. has just done a very good thing, but if a Republican — any Republican — wins next year’s election, he or she will surely try to undo this good work.

Still, for now at least, those who care about the health of their fellow citizens, and especially of the nation’s children, have something to celebrate.

Tea and Corporations

2011-12-24T17:15:00.006-05:00

Tea Party name is a misnomer

The Tea Party got it wrong when it picked its name. They thought the original Boston Tea Party was about being anti-government. The Neo-Tea Partiers' anti-regulation policies protecting corporations are exactly opposite to what took place in 1773.

What went on back then was the model for the corporate takeover of government we are experiencing today. Mad, bad King George III was a bought ruler, a shareholder in the giant East India Company. At their urging, and to his own profit, King George authorized the Tea Act of 1773. Over 2000 colonists rallied in Boston. A group led by Samuel Adams dressed as Indians and went aboard all the ships at Griffin's wharf and threw 342 chests of tea into the harbor.

Today's reaction against corporate greed is coming from the 99% movement. Tea monopolies are not the target, but the "public be damned" policies of petroleum, gas, coal giants, and especially banks and hedge funds are. They get favorable legislation by bribing congressmen with obscene campaign contributions. The extremely wealthy 1% are protected by the Neo-Tea Partiers and their captive Republican party.

We citizens who are offended by corporate "personhood", by campaign finance practices, and by the preposterous disparity in personal wealth don't have an obvious "tea chest" solution. The Occupiers have made us all more aware, more outraged. But it will require long, even tedious, political action to correct our country's inequities. Demonstrations help, but it takes reformation of our laws to accomplish the goals.

For a detailed exposition of all this a good sourcebook is Thom Hartmann's "UnEqual Protection: the Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights."

It's written in layspeak and really covers the territory.

Richard C. Bartlett, Cotuit

The Deciding Moment:
The Theft of Human Rights
(From Thom Hartmann's blog)

"The first thing to understand is the difference between the natural person and the fictitious person called a corporation. They differ in the purpose for which they are created, in the strength which they possess, and in the restraints under which they act.
Man is the handiwork of God and was placed upon earth to carry out a Divine purpose; the corporation is the handiwork of man and created to carry out a money-making policy.
There is comparatively little difference in the strength of men; a corporation may be one hundred, one thousand, or even one million times stronger than the average man.
Man acts under the restraints of conscience, and is influenced also by a belief in a future life. A corporation has no soul and cares nothing about the hereafter...
A corporation has no rights except those given it by law. It can exercise no power except that conferred upon it by the people through legislation, and the people should be as free to withhold as to give, public interest and not private advantage being the end in view."
- William Jennings Bryan, address to
the Ohio 1912 Constitutional Convention

Completion of Largest Solar Facility in New England

2011-12-24T17:06:00.001-05:00

WMECo Celebrates Completion of Largest Solar Facility in New England
2.3 MW Indian Orchard facility is the Company's second large-scale project

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Dec. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECo) today celebrates completion of its second large-scale solar energy facility in the Indian Orchard section of Springfield. The facility features 8,200 solar panels and produces 2.3 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

WMECo officials joined local and state officials in celebrating the transformation of the former foundry site into a clean, renewable energy facility. The Indian Orchard facility joins WMECo's Silver Lake Solar facility in Pittsfield as one of the largest in the Northeast region and is the largest in New England.

"WMECo continues to demonstrate that large-scale solar can be developed and delivered in a cost-effective manner for our customers," said Peter J. Clarke WMECo president and chief operating officer. "These projects represent significant progress toward meeting the Commonwealth's renewable energy goals and diversifying the region's energy supply with non-carbon-emitting fossil fuels," Clarke said.

"I'm very pleased to be here with Peter Clarke and other WMECo officials today to make this great announcement," stated Mayor Domenic J. Sarno. "This continues to build on my Administration's vision for green economic development. Seven months ago we were standing on a remediated brownfield site. Today, this site is now a tax-generating property and is home to the largest renewable energy facility in New England. I appreciate WMECo's continued collaboration with the City of Springfield," added Mayor Sarno.

The project brought nearly $12M of new construction to the region and is will contribute $400,000 of annual property tax revenue to the City of Springfield. Springfield is one of the two Gateway Communities in WMECo's service territory and is home to approximately 65,000 WMECo customers.

"Investments in renewable energy cut long-term energy costs, create local jobs and bring us closer to meeting our statewide clean energy goals," said Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard K. Sullivan Jr. "We have 67 megawatts of solar energy installed statewide--equal to the amount of electricity used by 10,600 households annually--and this project builds on this accomplishment by keeping this economic opportunity here in the Commonwealth."

The Commonwealth has a goal to install 250 MW of solar generation by 2017. Under the landmark Green Communities Act (GCA), each Massachusetts electric utility may own up to 50 MW of solar, subject to approval by the Department of Public Utilities (DPU).

Western Massachusetts Electric Company, a Northeast Utilities company /quotes/zigman/236013/quotes/nls/nu NU -0.11% , serves approximately 200,000 customers in 59 communities throughout western Massachusetts and is committed to the environment, economic development and the health of the communities it serves. For more information about WMECo, visit our Web site at www.wmeco.com . Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE Western Massachusetts Electric Company

Lee: Saving Municipal $$$ with solar

2011-12-24T12:13:00.004-05:00

Lee Solar energy plan jolts neighborhood
By Dick Lindsay, Berkshire Eagle Staff

LEE -- Citizen opposition has flared up over a Boston company's plan for a solar energy/recreational project they claim will lower property values and increase traffic on a heavily traveled town road.

Broadway Electric wants to install solar panels on roughly three acres of a 175-acre parcel off Stockbridge Road -- a major secondary route between Lee and Stockbridge. The town property was once targeted for a municipal golf course nearly 20 years ago.

In addition, the energy firm would build three playing fields, primarily for the youth soccer and football programs in Lee. The proposal also includes setting aside two acres for a citizens group that would privately fund, build and maintain a dog park.

The solar array is one of four Broadway Electric plans to install and maintain. They would generate a total of three megawatts of electricity to power all of Lee's municipal buildings. According to town officials, the other three include one each at the water and sewer treatment facilities and the former town landfill. Company officials haven't said what the overall project would cost.

However, several neighbors feel the Stockbridge Road aspect of the project would aesthetically have the greatest impact on the town.

"Anybody take into consideration what [the project] would do to my property if I wanted to sell it," questioned Bob Bartini of Fairview Street. "I sure as heck don't want it in my backyard."

Bartini and others who spoke during Tuesday night's Board of Selectmen meeting also cited how the athletic fields will generate more traffic, especially on weekends and be costly to maintain.

The recreational area would replace the two youth soccer fields being displaced by the solar array at the sewer plant on Route 102 and create a third field for youth football and possibly lacrosse.

The board emphasized it has just begun reviewing the project and will seek more public input before presenting a final plan to a town meeting for approval.

"We're going slowly and want to know more about what [the solar arrays] will look like," said Selectman Patricia Carlino. "We as a board must entertain the information and present it to the public for discussion."

Town officials are considering the project in an effort to reduce the $500,000 annual electric bill it pays Western Massachusetts Electric Co.; the two public schools and wastewater treatment plant accounting for two-thirds of the cost.

"The point of all this is we're trying to save money for the [taxpayers]," said board chairman David Consolati.

If town meeting voters approve the project, Lee would enter into a 20-year purchase agreement for electricity with Broadway at 7 cents per kilowatt hour, compared to the current 12-cent rate the town pays to WMECO. The projected savings for Lee taxpayers would be between $1 million and $2.5 million over a 20-year period.

Nevertheless, some local proponents of alternate energy sources are also skeptical about the Stockbridge Road, as well as Route 102 sites, both exposed to residential neighborhoods.

"I'm for green energy, solar energy, but I'm concerned about aesthetics," said Monica Ryan.

Thomas Wickham, a member of the town's ad hoc energy committee, cited how the solar panels will have minimal impact with the greatest return for the town.

"They are dark, they are low to the ground and produce clean electricity," said Wickham, who also chairs the Lee Planning Board.

The Selectmen plan to have further updates on the solar energy project in January

Vermont Yankee Tritium in Connecticut River

2011-12-24T12:08:00.002-05:00

DOH discovers tritium in Connecticut River
By BOB AUDETTE / Reformer Staff

BRATTLEBORO -- According to the Vermont Department of Health, a water sample taken from the Connecticut River just offshore from Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon tested positive for tritium.

The sample, which was taken about six feet from the shore on Nov. 3, had a level of 1,120 picocuries per liter.

A sample analyzed by a laboratory contracted by Entergy, which owns and operates the plant, tested at 1,230 picocuries per liter.

The EPA limit for tritium in drinking water is 20,000 picocuries per liter.

According to Bill Irwin, chief of radiological health and safety for the Vermont Department of Health, no other radiological materials have turned up in the river or in groundwater samples taken at the plant and from off-site monitoring wells.

"The only radioactive materials we have identified so far have been consistent with the levels found everywhere from nuclear weapons fallout," said Irwin. "But we continue to take samples for other radioactive materials that might be from fallout or from nuclear power generation."

According to DOH's website, the water samples have been sent to a contract laboratory to be analyzed for hard-to-detect radioactive materials including strontium-90.

Confirmatory gamma spectroscopy and analysis for tritium will also be done.

"Our concern is that we continue to have the opportunity to evaluate the environment for further contamination and keep a close BRATTLEBORO -- According to the Vermont Department of Health, a water sample taken from the Connecticut River just offshore from Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon tested positive for tritium.

The sample, which was taken about six feet from the shore on Nov. 3, had a level of 1,120 picocuries per liter.

A sample analyzed by a laboratory contracted by Entergy, which owns and operates the plant, tested at 1,230 picocuries per liter.

The EPA limit for tritium in drinking water is 20,000 picocuries per liter.

According to Bill Irwin, chief of radiological health and safety for the Vermont Department of Health, no other radiological materials have turned up in the river or in groundwater samples taken at the plant and from off-site monitoring wells.

"The only radioactive materials we have identified so far have been consistent with the levels found everywhere from nuclear weapons fallout," said Irwin. "But we continue to take samples for other radioactive materials that might be from fallout or from nuclear power generation."

According to DOH's website, the water samples have been sent to a contract laboratory to be analyzed for hard-to-detect radioactive materials including strontium-90.

Confirmatory gamma spectroscopy and analysis for tritium will also be done.

"Our concern is that we continue to have the opportunity to evaluate the environment for further contamination and keep a close

Levity and Lightbulbs on the Campaign Trail

2011-12-23T15:07:00.006-05:00

When a candidate(s) lacks substance, sometimes it's necessary to make a non-issue an issue, rally around a phony flag and applaud your own success that's a non-success, even as the rest of the world moves on.

So it goes with the Silly Light Bulb issue.

Whether you like it or not, you will be forced to buy more efficient light bulbs, dammit!

And hasn't this been a silly waste of time and effort?

Future Dim For 100-Watt Bulb, Despite Congress' Stall
By Peter Overby

The trillion-dollar budget bill that Congress passed last weekend includes plenty of non-spending provisions tucked into it. One of these so-called riders is aimed at saving the 100-watt incandescent light bulb.

But the move is more about politics than light.

Strictly speaking, the issue is this: Old-fashioned incandescent bulbs waste a lot of energy. So under federal law, they're being slowly phased out. The first to go, starting on New Year's Day, is the 100-watt bulb.

But what looked like energy efficiency when President George W. Bush signed the law four years ago now looks like oppressive big government to many conservatives.

"Let me tell you, President Bachmann will allow you to buy any light bulb you want in the United States of America," GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said on the campaign trail in June.

Speaking during a House debate in July, Texas Republican Michael Burgess said consumers should be deciding whether to use 100-watt bulbs, "not bureaucrats in Washington."

I think one of the portions that's not being told by our legislators is the importance of really using energy-efficient lamps. You know, up to 20 percent of a consumer's cost of operating their home comes from their lighting.
–Bill Hamilton, Home Depot

Ultimately, this save-the-bulbs campaign produced the rider in the spending bill, which says the Energy Department cannot spend money to enforce the phase-out of 100-watt bulbs.

At least, not for the next nine months.

Too Late?

The rider won plaudits on the right.

"Congressional Republicans have stood up for American consumers' being able to make the choice of what lighting products they wish to use," said Frank McCaffrey, a commentator with the advocacy group Americans for Limited Government.

But from the perspective of the lighting industry, this rider is several years too late to make a difference. And it doesn't want Congress changing things now.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association, representing 95 percent of the light bulb industry, spent months giving show-and-tell demonstrations to lawmakers.

The association's Joseph Higbee said its representatives would hook up two incandescents side by side — an old 100-watt bulb using argon gas and a new 72-watt bulb using halogen.

"And you can't tell the difference. We wanted to make sure every congressman and congresswoman understood that they and their constituents would still be able to purchase an incandescent light bulb," Higbee said.

The association's member companies long ago started changing their product lines from traditional incandescents to halogens, compact fluorescents and LEDs, Higbee said.

"Delaying enforcement undermines those investments and creates regulatory uncertainty," he said.

Uncertainty — the word that always pops up in debates over regulation. And uncertainty is something that big retailers want to avoid here as well.

Jaclyn Pardini, a spokeswoman for Lowe's home improvement stores, said the company "is committed to abiding by the [original] legislation and it does not change our plan" to stop selling 100-watt incandescent light bulbs.

Shrinking Production

The nation's biggest seller of light bulbs is Home Depot.

"It really doesn't mean a whole lot to us at the retail level," said Bill Hamilton, Home Depot's vice president of merchandising for electrical products.

He said the politicians aren't giving consumers the whole story. [NO KIDDING?]

"I think one of the portions that's not being told by our legislators is the importance of really using energy-efficient lamps. You know, up to 20 percent of a consumer's cost of operating their home comes from their lighting," he said.

Besides, he said, this isn't just a question of U.S. production and U.S. policy. Europe, Australia and Canada are also moving away from the old incandescent bulbs. And worldwide, production of the old incandescents is shrinking.

So far, there haven't been any reported runs on 100-watt bulbs. In fact, Hamilton says demand is up right now for all light bulbs — the old ones and the new ones.

From: Home Depot Shines A Light On Bulb Choices

HAMILTON: OK. It'll be energy-efficient halogen and energy-efficient halogen will be 30 percent more efficient than standard incandescent models. They're a very bright white light. The next would be compact fluorescents. Compact fluorescents come in a wide variety of colors. They're about 75 percent more efficient than standard incandescent lamps and they last about eight to 10 years.

And then you have LED technology that is really the emerging technology, and really where I think where consumers will go in the future. You still get great coloration of light similar to what you have out of your standard incandescent lamps. They're controllable, fully dimmable. They work great in extreme temperature, so heat and cold. But consumers will have choices for every type of light socket they have in their house today. And the good news is they'll all be more energy efficient than what they're putting in there today.

Hidden treasures in peril: Middleborough Historical Association

2011-12-23T09:14:00.000-05:00

Hidden treasures in peril
Many small museums are struggling in a down economy, while others survive, even thrive, thanks to dedicated volunteers
By Emily Sweeney

... volunteers at the Middleborough Historical Association have been working diligently to preserve the one-of-a-kind antiques that are on display at the Middleborough Historical Museum.

It’s known to many as the “Tom Thumb Museum,’’ because the collections include the child-sized clothing and tiny personal items of Charles Sherwood Stratton, the 19th-century celebrity dwarf whose stage name was General Tom Thumb. The artifacts are housed in a cluster of historic buildings on Jackson Street. The museum closes every winter because it has no heat.

“If we could heat those front two buildings, it would make such a difference,’’ said Cynthia McNair, president of the historical association. She worries about the lack of climate control at the museum, and hopes the extreme temperatures don’t deteriorate the precious antiques.

Because the museum is only open seasonally, it isn’t eligible to apply for many grants, said McNair. “It’s a Catch-22.’’

McNair said the museum fell into dire straits a few years ago when one of the ceilings caved in. Repairs needed to be made immediately, but the association wasn’t sure how to pay for them.

“Three summers ago, we met and we’re going, ‘Which building should we save?’ ’’ she said. “That’s how bad things were.’’

Luckily, the museum inherited some money from a local estate, just in the nick of time, which enabled the association to fix the roof and make repairs. Volunteers are now reorganizing the museum and arranging the displays. Their goal is to raise the museum’s profile and draw more visitors over the next couple of years.

“Our attendance was definitely lower this year,’’ said McNair.

In an effort to attract bigger crowds, they’re planning to revamp the exhibits and commemorate the 150th anniversary of Tom Thumb’s marriage on Feb. 10, 1863, to Middleborough native Lavinia Warren.

“We made it this far,’’ she said. “The potential is here. We have a lot of work to do.’’

Similar efforts are underway at the Robbins Museum of Archaeology, which is located across the street from the Middleborough Historical Museum. It’s maintained by the nonprofit Massachusetts Archaeological Society and houses thousands of Native American artifacts, some of them more than 10,000 years old. The museum’s hours of operation were recently scaled back from three days to two.

“All of the little museums and societies have had a tough time in the recession,’’ said Suanna Crowley, a geoarcheologist who regularly leads tours there and is known to schoolchildren as “Dr. Dirt.’’

Despite the reduced hours, Crowley said, everything else is going pretty well at the museum, which she calls “a hidden gem.’’

The Robbins Museum is trying to expand its educational programming and interpretive gallery offerings, and its collection keeps growing, she said.

“We’re actually seeing an uptick in programming and foot traffic at the museum,’’ Crowley said. “We feel kind of lucky.’’

Thanks to the Boston Globe!

2011-12-19T17:24:00.003-05:00

Were it not for the Boston Globe's reporting, the public would not be aware of such egregious abuse.

Governor Deval Patrick has failed miserably on oversight, maybe due to campaign distractions elsewhere oe focusing on Predatory Gambling and backroom deals.

Yet another Governor with no roots to the Commonwealth or its future!

Will we ever learn?

UMass to review Jack Wilson’s pay pact
Panel will examine terms and process
By Todd Wallack and Mary Carmichael Globe Staff

The University of Massachusetts is launching a review of an agreement that allows former president Jack Wilson to continue drawing his presidential salary while on a yearlong sabbatical and then, as a professor, earn nearly triple the average salary of senior faculty members.

The Globe reported last week that when Wilson, who left the presidency in June, moves into a teaching position next year his salary could reach $316,784, an average of the salaries of the provosts at the five UMass campuses.

That is much higher than the salaries of almost all senior UMass professors, which the university originally said could serve as a benchmark. It also differs markedly from the amounts in Wilson’s previous employment contracts, largely because it the calculations involved were skewed by inclusion of the medical school provost’s salary - far higher than that of the other provosts.

Wilson is being paid his presidential salary of $425,000 this year while he prepares for his professorship and takes the sabbatical, which involves a large amount of informal work for the university.

“There are lots of questions about this. I just found out about it when I saw the morning paper,’’ Governor Deval Patrick said Wednesday. “My understanding is that not even all members of the board were informed about this. I don’t think I should have an opinion on it or venture an opinion on it until I get the facts.’’

Departing university presidents are often given sabbaticals and professorships at public and private universities, where officials say corporate-style perks are needed to attract qualified candidates. Critics said former presidents should not receive presidential pay during sabbaticals or unusually high salaries for professorial work.

“I understand the value of an appropriate salary to attract the best talent for our public universities,’’ state Senator Michael Moore, cochairman of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Higher Education, said in a statement Friday. “However, I share the frustration of many middle-class families who are angered by generous perks and golden parachutes at a time when they can’t send their own child to college. With UMass more expensive than ever, I think it sends the wrong message.’’

UMass has appealed repeatedly to the state for more money. It recently decided to close a campus pharmacy and trim health services available to students. But it retains many high-paid administrators, including Wilson. Of the 50 public employees in Massachusetts with the highest annual base salaries, 47 are part of the UMass system.

Wilson’s most recent salary agreement was negotiated by former board chairman Robert Manning in July 2010. Manning consulted the board’s compensation committee in defining the terms, but was not required to discuss the details with the full board nor to make the agreement public, the university said.

Manning did not respond to phone messages seeking comment.

James Karam, the current chairman of the UMass board of trustees, said the compensation committee would review the process that set the terms of Wilson’s transition to ensure it complied with university policies. The panel is expected to reach a conclusion in January - well before Wilson starts his term as a professor, which leaves time to set his final salary accordingly.

Karam said the committee “believes the intent was for the salary to be the average of the four provosts’ salaries excluding the medical school, which would bring him into the [$200,000] range.’’

Several members of the compensation committee agreed that the inclusion of the medical school in Wilson’s salary calculations was a point of contention. “My concern would be that the transaction was fair and appropriate - fair to the outgoing president and in the same breath appropriate with respect to the best interest of the university system,’’ said Henry Thomas, a committee member.

Philip Johnston, a former state legislator and Cabinet member who is also on the compensation committee, said the group had previously reviewed the 2010 agreement as well as other contracts. “We didn’t see anything out of the ordinary,’’ he said. “It’s a reasonable contract for someone who has served a long time as president of the university and did a great job. It’s modest and well-deserved.’’

That said, Johnston added that he was not sure how the medical school provost’s compensation came to be factored into the 2010 agreement, given that it was not included in earlier pacts.

“That needs to be examined,’’ he said. “. . . If it was an addition, we need to understand why.’’

Wilson himself said he believed the contract should not have included the medical school salary. He said he would ask the university to leave it out when setting a final number.

How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take To Screw A Congressman?

2011-12-19T15:05:00.007-05:00

Efficient light bulbs receive overwhelming support by consumers according to the poll below and yet the short-sighted ignorance of a small minority prevails.

Astounding!

Below are comments of others and a recap of some of the anti-environmental attacks.

Spending bill blocks light bulb standards

By DARREN SAMUELSOHN

The shutdown-averting budget bill will block federal light bulb efficiency standards, giving a win to House Republicans fighting the so-called ban on incandescent light bulbs.

GOP and Democratic sources tell POLITICO the final omnibus bill includes a rider defunding the Energy Department's standards for traditional incandescent light bulbs to be 30 percent more energy efficient.

DOE's light bulb rules — authorized under a 2007 energy law authored signed by President George W. Bush — would start going into effect Jan. 1. The rider will prevent DOE from implementing the rules through Sept. 30.

But Democrats said they could claim a "compromise" by adding language to the omnibus that requires DOE grant recipients greater than $1 million to certify they will upgrade the efficiency of their facilities by replacing any lighting to meet or exceed the 2007 energy law's standards.

Fueled by conservative talk radio, Republicans made the last-ditch attempt to stop federal regulations from making their way into every Americans' living room.

"There are just some issues that just grab the public's attention. This is one of them," said Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.). "It's going to be dealt with in this legislation once and for all."

After giving up in recent weeks on dozens of other riders aimed at stopping EPA rules because of opposition from Senate Democrats and the White House, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) told POLITICO that the light bulb rider was "going to be in there."

"Speaker [John] Boehner to Chairman [Fred] Upton to Chairman [Hal] Rogers, they all strongly support keeping it in," said Barton, who served as ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee in 2007 when the light bulb language got approved. "And it's a personal commitment because of their philosophy."

The White House was not publicly spelling out which riders it didn’t want in the final spending package, with communications director Dan Pfeiffer only saying Wednesday that the House GOP plan would "undercut environmental protections."

On Twitter, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) wrote: "I strongly oppose that language. I hope it's deleted from any final bill that we pass.”

House Democrats recalled Upton was an original co-sponsor of the light bulb provision inserted in the 2007 energy law and bemoaned his rightward shift since running last fall for Energy and Commerce chairman.

"This is just another poke in the eye," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.).

"It's the power of Michele Bachmann and the presidential campaign," added Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee that approved the original language. "What can I say? If we can solve the energy problem with the outcome on the light bulb, America would be a great place."

Before the final deal, House Interior-EPA Appropriations ranking member Jim Moran (D-Va.) said the light bulb language — much to his chagrin — was one of the last remaining holdups.

“There’s an issue with light bulbs and that’s so inconsequential I’m too embarrassed to even discuss it,” he told reporters. “It’s not even worth talking about; it’s something that can always be worked out.”

True to his word Moran declined to say who was fighting against the House language.

Environmentalists and clean energy types have tried to mount a last-ditch defense, with plans for a Friday press conference that includes representatives from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, Philips Electronics North America, Consumers Union, the Alliance to Save Energy and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Republicans for Environmental Protection also hoped to shame its GOP brethren into backing down.

"In the real world, outside talk radio's echo chamber, lighting manufacturers such as GE, Philips and Sylvania have tooled up to produce new incandescent light bulbs that look and operate exactly the same as old incandescent bulbs, and give off just as much warm light," said Jim DiPeso, the group's policy director. "The only difference is they produce less excess heat and are therefore 30 percent more efficient. Same light, lower energy bills. What's not to like?"

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the ranking member of the Interior and environment subcommittee, said she wasn’t driving the debate over light bulbs. “Is it a must have for me? No,” she said. “That was not something that I got focused on or took up as an initiative."

Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), chairman of the Interior and environment appropriations subcommittee, said Senate opposition to the light bulb provisions had up to this point been minimal.

"Amazing, isn't it?" he said. "They objected to all the other EPA riders and stuff. That was the instructions from the White House. But apparently the light bulb ones didn't bother them too much."

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) sponsored the underlying light bulb amendment attached earlier this summer to the Energy and Water spending bill. "This is a small part," he said of the language making it through House-Senate conference negotiations. "It's a trillion dollar bill."

Asked why it kept coming back among all the other legislative riders sought by Republicans, Burgess deadpanned, "I don't know. I think it's just a testament to the power that I wield in the United States House of Representatives."

Darren Goode contributed to this report.

Congress Blocks Light Bulb Efficiency Standards with Spending Bill
by Jennifer Mueller

Under a 2007 energy law signed by President George W. Bush, the United States. was poised to cut energy use and climate pollution equivalent to 17 million cars by retiring the incandescent light bulb. Last week, Congress blocked those regulations from going into effect as planned next month by inserting language into the spending bill that averted a federal government shutdown on Friday.

While Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) referred to the rider as “another poke in the eye” and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) credited the postponement of efficiency standards to “…the power of Michele Bachmann and the presidential campaign,” the rider only preserves the 100-watt incandescent temporarily, until October 2012.

According to The Wilderness Society, the irony of defending the 135-year-old incandescent technology is that light bulb manufacturers supported the new regulations. Consumers could have saved $15.8 billion in energy costs annually by full adoption of the new, more efficient, but still incandescent, bulbs the industry has introduced.

“In the real world, outside talk radio’s echo chamber, lighting manufacturers such as GE, Philips and Sylvania have tooled up to produce new incandescent light bulbs that look and operate exactly the same as old incandescent bulbs, and give off just as much warm light,” Republicans for Environmental Protection Policy Director Jim DiPeso told Politico. “The only difference is they produce less excess heat and are therefore 30 percent more efficient. Same light, lower energy bills. What’s not to like?”

Whatever the presidential campaign about the light bulb uprising out there, most American’s actually support efficiency standards, with 61% regarding them favorably according to a USA TODAY/Gallup poll. “Of those surveyed, 71%, said they have replaced standard light bulbs in their home with more efficient options, and 84% said they are “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the alternatives,” the paper reported.

Budget Deal Reflects Process Tilted Towards Special Interests
"In the new year, conservationists will be ready to fight harder than ever to protect America’s wildlife and natural resources."
Miles Grant

Congressional leaders announced a budget deal today and are reportedly considering on a two-month extension of a payroll tax break.

“There’s no doubt this bill has come a long way since we started 2011 with the truly appalling House Appropriations Committee budget, reflecting outrage across the country over its attacks on wildlife, air, water and public health, including deep cuts in conservation investments,” Adam Kolton, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation’s National Advocacy Center.

The budget bill does not include some of the most controversial cuts and provisions:

•Cuts just $219 million from the Environmental Protection Agency’s $8.68 billion enacted fiscal year 2011 budget, much less than the original House Appropriations cut.

•Riders to block new mercury pollution rules, climate pollution standards, fuel efficiency rules for cars and trucks, and Clean Water Act expansion were dropped

•Programs like the State & Tribal Wildlife Grants, North American Wetlands Conservation Fund, Multinational Species Conservation Fund received a cut of only 5 percent or less from their enacted fiscal year 2011 budgets, and the Land and Water Conservation Fund actually received a 7 percent increase.

“But the polluter riders that remain reflect a process where powerful special interests still have keys to the back room. In particular, the last-minute rider to effectively exempt Arctic drilling from national air quality standards shows the back door is always open for Congress’ Big Oil donors,” said Adam Kolton.

Among the anti-environment provisions in the bill:

Energy

•Halts implementation of the energy efficiency standards for light bulbs that were enacted in 2007 with strong bipartisan support. Energy efficiency measures are one of the cheapest and quickest ways to reduce the carbon pollution that contributes to climate change. The standards will prevent more than 100 million tons of carbon pollution per year—the equivalent of taking 17 million cars off the road. These standards are supported by the industry that is already developing newer high-tech incandescent bulbs to replace the venerable 135-year-old version, saving consumers $15.8 billion annually.

•Gives oil companies a free pass from complying with critical Clean Air Act requirements to control air pollution from offshore drilling. Specifically, the bill would move air permitting for Arctic offshore drilling from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Department of the Interior, which would effectively exempt Arctic drilling from national air quality standards.
Wildlife

•Undermines protections for endangered and threatened wild bighorn sheep. A century ago, bighorn sheep thrived in the West, with numbers in the millions, but contact with diseases carried by domestic sheep has reduced overall bighorn populations to the thousands. To avoid this complication, federal agencies were charged with reducing interactions between the two species—an effort that has proven remarkably successful with the help of National Wildlife Federation, the Nez Perce tribe and other stakeholders. This bill would undermine that charge and result in the decline of wild bighorn sheep populations.

Public Lands & Waters

•Halts funding for the Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study. As recent, repeated catastrophic floods have shown, our federal Missouri River policies are outdated, often conflicting, and in need of revision. This study would for the first time provide a comprehensive analysis to ensure better management, including flows that better mimic nature, land protection that allows for flood storage, and protection of fish and wildlife.

•Blocks the EPA from issuing permits to control pollution from logging activities. This exemption would allow discharges associated with a broad suite of timber management activities to proceed regardless of impacts to water, including most importantly those associated with roads. Roads are a leading threat to water quality in forested areas because they collect sediment-laden runoff that degrades water quality and alters hydrology to increase the threat of flooding and harms steelhead and salmon populations. These effects can be severe, which is why the EPA and states require discharge permits for other types of industrial activities with similar impacts, including state highways, municipal stormwater, mining, and oil and gas drilling.

•Reduces opportunity for citizens to participate in how public lands are governed, undercutting one of the foundations for the management of federal lands. In the current system, one of the more meaningful rights is the public's prerogative to petition the federal courts when a citizen believes that a federal decision has not adhered to the rule of law. This bill would severely curtail these rights by reducing opportunities for the public to appeal decisions on Bureau of Land Management lands related to grazing.

•Obstructs the public’s right to appeal decisions on the movement of livestock across public lands, also known as trailing. This unnecessarily creates conflict between livestock and wildlife and takes away stakeholder’s ability to reduce this conflict.

•Prohibits the Obama administration from finalizing new guidelines for planning federal water projects and programs required by the Water Resources Development Act of 2007. Revision of the federal water resources planning principles and guidelines (P&G) provides an unparalleled opportunity to protect the public, protect and restore the environment, and improve the economic vitality of communities across the nation for decades to come. The current P&G are decades old and produce projects that unnecessarily damage the environment, often fail to protect the public, and undermine sustainable economic development. For example, despite the construction of innumerable flood damage reduction projects during the past 20 years, the nation’s flood damages have increased at an alarming rate. During the same period, federal water projects played a major role in increasing the percentage of North America’s freshwater fish species at risk of extinction from 20 percent to an estimated 40 percent.

“As Congress works towards a long-term payroll tax extension, we’ve already seen the House take what should be a straightforward bill to help the economy and load it like a bad holiday fruitcake with giveaways for polluters,” said Adam Kolton. “Greasing Big Oil's land grab for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline won’t create jobs. Neither will blocking long-overdue rules to clean America’s air. In the new year, conservationists will be ready to fight harder than ever to protect America’s wildlife and natural resources.”

State energy cuts likely

2011-12-16T11:30:00.004-05:00

Struggling to fulfill its mission with staff cuts, this Administration will be known for its anti-environment position. When you don't have widespread special interests making campaign contributions and lobbyists stroking the egos of lawmakers, residents lose.

State energy cuts likely
By Trevor Jones, Berkshire Eagle Staff

PITTSFIELD -- Funding for state energy and environmental agencies is expected to be cut next year, continuing the trend of decreasing appropriations in recent years.

Secretary Richard K. Sullivan Jr. made that estimation at a 2013 budget hearing for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, or EEA, but said Gov. Deval Patrick’s office hasn’t given him a firm number yet.

"We’re expecting to see budget cuts at EEA and they will probably be of the same magnitude of order that we’ve seen for the last couple years," said Sullivan.

Funding for EEA has decreased by 22.5 percent since 2009. The state’s entire budget has increased by 8 percent over the same period.

EEA’s 2012 budget is $187 million. The umbrella agency is responsible for the departments of Environmental Protection, Fish and Game, Agricultural Resources, Conservation and Recreation, Public Utilities and Energy Resources, as well as the State Reclamation Board.

Sullivan said the state’s fiscal picture is improving, but rising health and human services costs will absorb most of the additional incoming revenue.

The hearing was one of two the EEA plans to hold before Patrick releases his budget next year. The other hearing was held earlier this month in Boston.

Joe Dorant, president of the Massachusetts Organization of State Engineers and Scientists, advocated for restoring funding to fiscal 2011 levels. The state budget appropriated $188 million for EEA that year, though projected expenses were $194 million.

Dorant said staffing for the departments has decreased from 1,200 in 1990 to 840 in 2011, which has left the departments unable to fulfill their core mission of regulatory enforcement.

"Simply put, we’re doing less with less," said Dorant.

Many in attendance called for a level-funded Department of Agricultural Resources, saying the agency’s efforts are critical to the success of local farming and preservation of prime agricultural lands.

Others spoke out about the need to remain vigilant in the efforts to stop the spread of zebra mussels, the invasive mollusk discovered in Laurel Lake and the Housatonic River.

"It’s absolutely imperative to the health of the other lakes in Berkshire County that we leave no stone unturned in dealing with zebra mussels," said Jack Hickey, president of the Lakes and Ponds Association of Western Massachusetts.

There was also a large contingent of bee keepers on hand from Worcester County who spoke out about the need for more bee inspections to prevent the spread of disease.

What's Lt. Governor Tim Murray hiding?

2011-12-16T11:23:00.002-05:00

Murray's wreck records deemed public, state police refusing to turn them over

BOSTON (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - Massachusetts State Police are refusing to turn over information from a crash involving a top state leader even after the Secretary of State deemed it a public record.

Lt. Governor Tim Murray said he was inspecting storm damage when his state-issued Crown Victoria skidded on black ice and crashed in Sterling on Interstate 190 at 5:30 a.m. early last month. The car was totaled.

Murray quickly requested a breathalyzer test to prove he had not been drinking and he told police he was driving the speed limit.

While the vehicle was demolished, the vehicle data recorder inside the car was in tact. That black box records important information including how fast he was driving at the time.

However, State Police said they had no plans of downloading the black box because they didn’t need that data for their investigation.

FOX Undercover filed a formal request under the Massachusetts Public Records Law, and when the State Police still refused to turn it over we appealed to the Secretary of State’s Public Records department, which decides what is and is not a public record.

The Secretary of State ordered the State Police to “review the records, redact where necessary and provide (FOX Undercover) with the responsive records... within 10 days, or provide this office with a more comprehensive response to support the Department’s exemption claim.”

Late Thursday, the State Police said they will provide more information to the Secretary of State’s office to try and overturn their ruling.

Their main argument for withholding the data is that they only download the black box information when crashes result in death, serious injury, or possible criminal charges, which was not the case in this accident.

A State Police spokesman also says the State Police don’t want to release the data because it can be misleading if not read in context, such as if a car was spinning on ice or flipped over. That might record a higher than actual speed because the tires are spinning.

There is nothing in the state’s Public Records Law that says the government can withhold information because it might be misinterpreted.

As for Murray, he’s not pushing for the State Police to release the information. A spokeswoman says the lieutenant governor will not ask the State Police “to deviate from their normal policies and procedures.”

Beacon Hill: Short-sighted as usual

2011-12-16T10:47:00.008-05:00

Instead of focusing on the future and sensible policy, Beacon Hill backtracks and demurs to special interests, yet again! An interesting contrast is provided by Vermont's move to reduce Dirty Energy use.

Too focused on flawed Gambling Legislation and cramming through last minute legislation to begin lengthy vacations, this ignores that local control was surrendered to locate fossil fuel plants, specifically the one apparently not needed in Brockton.

Brockton Power Plant Not Needed?

Another Skewed Poll by Barrow?
West Bridgewater Cares

Wind bill in Mass. looks headed for demise

BOSTON—A bill designed to make it easier to win permits for land-based wind turbines in Massachusetts looks headed for its demise.

The Cape Cod Times reports (http://bit.ly/rzHAMc) that state Sen. Benjamin Downing, co-chair of the committee responsible for bill, said he will call for a study of the bill. That effectively ends its chances of being taken up by lawmakers during the current session.

The bill aims to streamline permitting and create standards for large wind energy projects. Proponents say it's needed because wind proposals now face protracted review.

But opponents say the bill will reduce local control over such projects. They also object to building the projects near residential areas.

Downing's statement comes after state Senate President Therese Murray's recent decision to withdraw her support for the bill.

Vt. to seek 90 percent renewable energy by 2050
By DAVE GRAM / Associated Press

MONTPELIER -- Gov. Peter Shumlin wants the state to satisfy 90 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2050, largely eliminating its reliance on fossil fuels.

Shumlin joined Public Service Commissioner Elizabeth Miller and other officials on Thursday to unveil a comprehensive energy plan that lifts what had been a moratorium on construction of renewable energy projects on state land; calls for more use of electric vehicles coupled with energy efficiency in the electric sector; says large-scale hydroelectric power like that imported from Canada should be considered renewable; and calls for expansion of piped natural gas in the state.

"Vermont needs to move forward to protect our environment, gain greater energy independence and drive innovation and jobs in the energy sectors. This plan puts us on that path," Shumlin said in a statement. "I am proud of the incredible work put in by the many agencies involved and the thousands of citizens who took the time to participate in shaping the ideas and actions that are included."

Key provisions in the document, which resulted from a year of work by Miller’s department and other agencies, five public hearings and heavy lobbying by interest groups, include:

-- An end to reliance on the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. The state is pushing to close the Vernon reactor when its initial 40-year license expires in March, but plant owner Entergy Corp. is suing in federal court to keep the plant open. A judge’s decision is expected any day. Even if Entergy wins and the plant operates for another 20 years, as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given it permission to do, Miller said the state does not plan to rely on it for power supplies.
-- A push to reduce energy use in transportation, which accounts for more than half the state’s current energy demand, by getting more residents to use public transportation, ride bikes and walk. At the same time, many vehicles are expected to be powered by electricity. Energy planners see this as a way to even out energy use, with cars charging their batteries overnight, when demand for power currently is very low.

-- Greatly expanded use of biomass fuels, including wood pellets, corn and other crops grown to be burned, in the heating of buildings. Shumlin said this is key to the state’s efforts to reduce its reliance on foreign oil.

-- A continued push for energy conservation, a field in which Vermont frequently has been ranked as a national leader.

The plan is drawing criticism from some quarters.

Guy Page, of the Vermont Energy Partnership, a business group that supports continued operation of Vermont Yankee, said increased reliance on natural gas would increase the state’s carbon emissions. He maintained Vermont would be better off getting energy from low-carbon-emitting nuclear power.

Paul Burns, of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, faulted the plan’s support for an existing state policy of classifying large-scale hydroelectric imports from Canada as renewable. He warned they could squeeze home-grown renewable energy projects out of the market.

Another area of debate has been whether the state should allow energy projects on public land and, if so, what types. Large-scale wind power projects have drawn criticism from some quarters as despoiling mountain vistas and damaging wildlife. The plan calls for some limited development of renewable energy projects on public land, providing they meet strict permitting criteria.

Arrested Development

2011-12-14T15:19:00.002-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

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Arrested Development

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Arrested Development
The Senate passes a defense appropriations bill that allows the government to detain an American citizen indefinitely without a trial.

AG Coakley ignores environmental costs

2011-12-13T19:30:00.003-05:00

What a disappointment from AG Martha Coakley!

Oh, sure! Dirty Coal-Fired plants are so much cheaper!

Somerset, MA: Pauline vs. Dirty Coal

This is your Ash - your Coal Ash in Massachusetts.

BRAYTON POINT 190,000,000 POUNDS

SOMERSET 60,100,000 POUNDS

SALEM HARBOR 140,800,00 POUNDS

WEST SPRINGFIELD 40,000,000 POUNDS

MOUNT TOM 75,200,000 POUNDS

Is this what the AG is supporting?

One single accident, one single Coal Ash spill at one of these sites, similar to what occurred in Harriman, TN, will destroy a community.

‎~ 50% of our electric energy in the US comes from Dirty Coal Energy.

It is extremely cheap because they don't have to pay the environmental costs from coal ash spills or mountaintop removal.

+ 500 Mountains have been leveled for coal removal.

For the AG to arrive at this preposterous statement makes one wonder how uninformed she is and how selective in her cost assessment.

And Fracking? Yet another environmentally toxic solution that has destroyed drinking water and environments.

This is about sustainability. Our current path is totally unsustainable.

Green alert on Coakley
BY: Bruce Mohl

Attorney General Martha Coakley insists she is as green as ever, but environmental activists aren’t so sure after her recent testimony on the state’s three-year-old Green Communities Act.

Coakley warned lawmakers on Beacon Hill that the cost of implementing the law over the next four years will be $4 billion, resulting in a 7 percent increase in electricity rates at a time when the state’s economy is struggling to emerge from recession. “We need to fully consider these costs and work to reduce them,” she said in her prepared remarks.

The attorney general’s stark presentation set off alarm bells in the state’s environmental community. “She seemed to be taking aim at our green energy policies across the board,” said Sue Reid, director of the Conservation Law Foundation Massachusetts. Reid says she is arranging a meeting with Coakley to discuss her position.

Jeremy McDiarmid, Massachusetts director of Environment Northeast, said Coakley’s presentation emphasized the cost of the state’s green policies and largely ignored the benefits. “We need to be looking at both the costs and the benefits on an equal footing,” McDiarmid said. “We need a balance.”

Mark Sylvia, commissioner of the state’s Division of Energy Resources, disputed Coakley’s numbers. He predicted electricity rates will rise 2 to 3 percent over the next three years and consumers who take advantage of the state’s energy efficiency programs to reduce their consumption may actually see their electric bills drop. “It’s a great story,” he said of the Green Communities Act.

The attorney general says she remains a big supporter of the Green Communities Act, but she believes parts of the law need to be overhauled. She pulled her cost estimates from a chart buried in a strongly positive Patrick administration report on electricity market reforms. The chart indicates the cost of the state’s electricity initiatives will be roughly $1 billion a year for each of the next four years.

Coakley didn’t mention in her remarks that the same chart also estimated the benefits of electricity market reforms -- in the form of energy efficiency, renewable energy development, and energy innovation -- will hover around $2.5 billion a year. Coakley left that information out of her speech because those benefits accrue over a long time while the costs will be felt immediately.

“Going green, in the short run, is going to cost us,” Coakley said after a bill-signing this week.

To reduce those costs, Coakley is calling for increased competition and transparency, more cost efficiency, and fewer sweetheart incentives for utility companies. She said long-term renewable energy contracts should be bid competitively, an apparent dig at National Grid’s deal to buy Cape Wind power. She criticized financial incentives given to utilities to meet energy efficiency goals and to sign long-term renewable power contracts.

“We are also concerned with policies that favor more costly technologies and would like to see technology-neutral policies that ensure that the least expensive alternatives are implemented first,” she said.

Her comments on technology-neutral policies mimicked those of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, a group of the state’s top business executives. The group says Massachusetts can reach its green emission goals and save $10 billion by adopting a technology-neutral approach with renewable energy.

Under current law, many renewable power generators are subsidized by ratepayers. They are issued one renewable energy certificate, or REC, for each kilowatt hour of electricity they produce. They then sell their RECs to power sellers, who buy them in order to prove that they are meeting the state’s renewable portfolio standard, which currently requires that 10 percent of the electricity they sell come from renewables by 2015.

Under current law, power from wind, solar, small hydro, and biomass projects can be used to meet the renewable portfolio standard. The Massachusetts Competitive Partnership would like to add energy efficiency and big hydro to the mix, but exclude them from the REC subsidy program. In essence, the business officials would let utilities meet their renewable energy targets using energy efficiency projects and large-scale hydro power imports from Canada, which are substantially cheaper than wind and solar. “We think you should go to the lowest-cost alternative,” said Dan O’Connell, CEO of the partnership.

Sylvia, the DOER commissioner, doesn’t think the partnership’s plan would work. He indicated he would keep the existing regulatory system in place to support wind and solar power development while separately encouraging energy efficiency and the importation of large-scale hydro power from Canada.

The green debate is on.

Durban: Progress from the bottom up, not the top down

2011-12-13T19:26:00.002-05:00

What a disappointment!

In Glare of Climate Talks, Taking On Too Great a Task
A coal-fired power plant in Changchun, China. Many environmental officials say all countries should be bound by the same rules.
By JOHN M. BRODER

DURBAN, South Africa — For 17 years, officials from nearly 200 countries have gathered under the auspices of the United Nations to try to deal with one of the most vexing questions of our era — how to slow the heating of the planet.

Every year they leave a trail of disillusion and discontent, particularly among the poorest nations and those most vulnerable to rising seas and spreading deserts. Every year they fail to significantly advance their own stated goal of keeping the average global temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius, or about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels.

That was the case again this year. The event, the 17th conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, wrapped up early Sunday morning with modest accomplishments: the promise to work toward a new global treaty in coming years and the establishment of a new climate fund.

The decision to move toward a new treaty — and toward replacing the 20-year-old system that requires only industrialized nations to cut emissions — was hard-won, after 72 hours of continuous wrangling. But for now it remains merely a pledge, and all details remain to be negotiated.

Negotiators also left for another day the precise sources of the money for the fund and how and by who it would be disbursed. Called the Green Climate Fund, it would help mobilize a promised $100 billion a year in public and private funds by 2020 to assist developing nations in adapting to climate change and converting to clean energy sources.

There is no denying the dedication and stamina of the environment ministers and diplomats who conduct these talks. But maybe the task is too tall. The issues on the table are far broader than atmospheric carbon levels or forestry practices or how to devise a fund to compensate those most affected by global warming.

What really is at play here are politics on the broadest scale, the relations among Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan and three rapidly rising economic powers, China, India and Brazil. Those relations, in turn, are driven by each country’s domestic politics and the strains the global financial crisis has put on all of them. And the question of “climate equity” — the obligations of rich nations to help poor countries cope with a problem they had no part in creating — is more than an “environmental” issue.

Effectively addressing climate change will require over the coming decades a fundamental remaking of energy production, transportation and agriculture around the world — the sinews of modern life. It is simply too big a job for those who have gathered for these talks under the 1992 United Nations treaty that began this grinding process.

“There is a fundamental disconnect in having environment ministers negotiating geopolitics and macroeconomics,” said Nick Robins, an energy and climate change analyst at HSBC, the London-based global bank. Mr. Robins noted that the 20-year-old framework convention and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that amended it enshrined the two-tiered system in which so-called developed and developing countries are treated differently. China still is classified as a developing country and is thus exempt from any emissions limits, but it has a vastly larger economy than it had in 1992 and recently surpassed the United States as the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

“They are working from a 20th-century agreement,” Mr. Robins said.

The United States is determined to sweep away those distinctions and work toward a system where all countries are bound by the same rules. The conference here in Durban kept the tiered system alive for another few years, but it is fading. And by the time the next phase of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2020, a good many leaders hope that it will be gone for good.

Todd D. Stern, the chief American climate negotiator, revealed his qualms about the inability of the United Nations climate bureaucracy to deal with the broad political and financial questions posed by climate change. “We want to see a green fund that is going to draw in a lot of capital from countries all over the world, including the United States,” he said at a briefing. “And although I love climate negotiators and spend much of my time with them, they are not necessarily the most qualified people to run a multibillion-dollar fund.”

So who is qualified to tackle these tasks? Two years ago, more than 100 heads of state and leaders of governments, including President Obama, joined the United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen hoping to write a new, legally binding treaty covering all parties. That assignment proved too much even for the leaders, and the meeting collapsed in acrimony and finger-pointing. Few top leaders have shown up at the two subsequent meetings, in Cancún, Mexico, in 2010, and in Durban this year. The agenda has narrowed and expectations have shrunk, yet the ship sails grimly on.

Others think that real progress will not emerge from any global forum but from action at the ground level, by entities unencumbered by the United Nations climate process.

Mary D. Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, which arguably has done more to reduce carbon pollution in the United States than any other body, was in Durban as an observer. Ms. Nichols said that given the inability of the international bureaucracy or the United States Congress to move decisively on global warming, the job would increasingly fall to the states and local governments.

“Instead of waiting for them to negotiate some grand bargain, we have to keep working on the ground,” she said. “Progress is going to come from the bottom up, not the top down.”

Bailout Total: $29.616 Trillion Dollars

2011-12-09T20:26:00.002-05:00

Worth reading if you want to know why you're poor and bankers aren't:

Bailout Total: $29.616 Trillion Dollars
By Barry Ritzholz, The Big Picture Blog

09 December 11

There is a fascinating new study coming out of the Levy Economics Institute [1] of Bard College. Its titled “$29,000,000,000,000: A Detailed Look at the Fed’s Bail-out by Funding Facility and Recipient” by James Felkerson. The study looks at the lending, guarantees, facilities and spending of the Federal Reserve.

The researchers took all of the individual transactions across all facilities created to deal with the crisis, to figure out how much the Fed committed as a response to the crisis. This includes direct lending, asset purchases and all other assistance. (It does not include indirect costs such as rising price of goods due to inflation, weak dollar, etc.)

The net total? As of November 10, 2011, it was $29,616.4 billion dollars - (or 29 and a half trillion, if you prefer that nomenclature). Three facilities—CBLS, PDCF, and TAF— are responsible for the lion’s share - 71.1% of all Federal Reserve assistance ($22,826.8 billion).

One comment about some of the folks pushing back against this massive total: Yes, there is a big difference between a $100 lent for 3 days, and a $100 lent overnight rolled over 2 more times. And there is an enormous difference when temporary overnight lending lasts for three years.

Overnight lending, by its definition, is temporary, short term, lower risk, modest impact. It exists to allow slightly over-extended banks to meet their reserve requirements. But rolling overnight lending repeatedly for 3 years is none of those things. And it makes a mockery of these same reserve requirements, and the protective purposes they are supposed to serve.

The amount of overnight lending reflects how broken our financial system really is. A well capitalized, moderately leverage system does not require this massive liquidity from a central bank - interbank lending should be sufficient. What the data reveals is that the financial sector remains dangerously under-capitalized and overleveraged.

To pretend these were merely minor overnight loans, rolled over once or twice, is foolish, dangerous nonsense.

Cumulative facility totals, in billions

Source: Federal Reserve

Facility Total Percent of total
Term Auction Facility $3,818.41 12.89%
Central Bank Liquidity Swaps 10,057.4(1.96) 33.96
Single Tranche Open Market Operation 855 2.89
Terms Securities Lending Facility and Term Options Program 2,005.7 6.77
Bear Stearns Bridge Loan 12.9 0.04
Maiden Lane I 28.82(12.98) 0.10
Primary Dealer Credit Facility 8,950.99 30.22
Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility 217.45 0.73
Commercial Paper Funding Facility 737.07 2.49
Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility 71.09(.794) 0.24
Agency Mortgage-Backed Security Purchase Program 1,850.14(849.26) 6.25
AIG Revolving Credit Facility 140.316 0.47
AIG Securities Borrowing Facility 802.316 2.71
Maiden Lane II 19.5(9.33) 0.07
Maiden Lane III 24.3(18.15) 0.08
AIA/ ALICO 25 0.08
Totals $29,616.4 100.0%

>

Source:
BERNANKE’S OBFUSCATION CONTINUES: THE FED’S $29 TRILLION BAIL-OUT OF WALL STREET [2]
L. Randall Wray
Economonitor, December 9th, 2011
http://www.economonitor.com/lrwray/2011/12/09/bernanke’s-obfuscation-continues-the-fed’s-29-trillion-bail-out-of-wall-street/

Article printed from The Big Picture: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog

URL to article: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/12/bailout-total-29-616-trillion-dollars/

URLs in this post: [1] Levy Economics Institute: http://www.levyinstitute.org/

[2] BERNANKE’S OBFUSCATION CONTINUES: THE FED’S $29 TRILLION BAIL-OUT OF WALL STREET: http://www.economonitor.com/lrwray/2011/12/09/bernanke’s-obfuscation-continues-the-fed’s-29-trillion-bail-out-of-wall-street/

Tinker Bell Pinochet and the Fairy Tale Miracle of Chile

2011-12-09T20:18:00.004-05:00

In 2008, the article below was posted on this site and is no longer archived.

It represents an excerpt from a Greg Palast book that was well worth reading.

It made sense then and foretold the future - failed economic policy.

This is where we're going.

Tinker Bell Pinochet and the Fairy Tale Miracle of Chile
The London Observer
Sunday, November 22, 1998

SAO PAULO - Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, Tinker Bell and Senator Augusto Pinochet have much in common.

All three performed magical good deeds. In the case of Pinochet, he is universally credited with the Miracle of Chile, the wildly successful experiment in free markets, privatisation, de-regulation and union-free economic expansion whose laissez-faire seeds have spread from Santiago to Surrey, from Valparaiso to Virginia.

But Cinderella's pumpkin did not really turn into a coach. The Miracle of Chile, too, is just another fairy tale. The claim that General Pinochet begot an economic powerhouse is one of those utterances, like "Labour's ethical foreign policy," whose truth rests entirely on its repetition.

Chile can claim some economic success. But that is the work of Salvador Allende - who saved his nation, miraculously, a decade after his death.

In 1973, the year the General seized the government, Chile's unemployment rate was 4.3%. In 1983, after ten years of free-market modernisation, unemployment reached 22%. Real wages declined by 40% under military rule.

In 1970, 20% of Chile's population lived in poverty. By 1990, the year "President" Pinochet left office, the number of destitute had doubled to 40%. Quite a miracle.

Pinochet did not destroy Chile's economy all alone. It took nine years of hard work by the most brilliant minds in world academia, a gaggle of Milton Friedman's trainees, the Chicago Boys. Under the spell of their theories, the General abolished the minimum wage, outlawed trade union bargaining rights, privatised the pension system, abolished all taxes on wealth and on business profits, slashed public employment, privatised 212 state industries and 66 banks and ran a fiscal surplus.

Freed of the dead hand of bureaucracy, taxes and union rules, the country took a giant leap forward ... into bankruptcy and depression. After nine years of economics Chicago style, Chile's industry keeled over and died. In 1982 and 1983, GDP dropped 19%. The free-market experiment was kaput, the test tubes shattered. Blood and glass littered the laboratory floor. Yet, with remarkable chutzpa, the mad scientists of Chicago declared success. In the US, President Ronald Reagan's State Department issued a report concluding, "Chile is a casebook study in sound economic management." Milton Friedman himself coined the phrase, "The Miracle of Chile." Friedman's sidekick, economist Art Laffer, preened that Pinochet's Chile was, "a showcase of what supply-side economics can do."

It certainly was. More exactly, Chile was a showcase of de-regulation gone berserk.

The Chicago Boys persuaded the junta that removing restrictions on the nation's banks would free them to attract foreign capital to fund industrial expansion.

Pinochet sold off the state banks - at a 40% discount from book value - and they quickly fell into the hands of two conglomerate empires controlled by speculators Javier Vial and Manuel Cruzat. From their captive banks, Vial and Cruzat siphoned cash to buy up manufacturers - then leveraged these assets with loans from foreign investors panting to get their piece of the state giveaways.

The bank's reserves filled with hollow securities from connected enterprises. Pinochet let the good times roll for the speculators. He was persuaded, as Tony Blair said this month in another context, "Governments should not hinder the logic of the market."

By 1982, the pyramid finance game was up. The Vial and Cruzat "Grupos" defaulted. Industry shut down, private pensions were worthless, the currency swooned. Riots and strikes by a population too hungry and desperate to fear bullets forced Pinochet to reverse course. He booted his beloved Chicago experimentalists. Reluctantly, the General restored the minimum wage and unions' collective bargaining rights. Pinochet, who had previously decimated government ranks, authorized a program to create 500,000 jobs. The equivalent in Britain would be a government program for 4 million workers.

In other words, Chile was pulled from depression by dull old Keynesian remedies, all Franklin Roosevelt, zero Margaret Thatcher. (The junta even instituted what remains today as South America's only law restricting the flow of foreigncapital.)

New Deal tactics rescued Chile from the Panic of 1983, but the nation's long-term recovery and growth since then is the result of - cover the
children's ears - a large dose of socialism.

To save the nation's pension system, Pinochet nationalized banks and industry on a scale unimagined by Communist Allende. The General expropriated at will, offering little or no compensation. While most of these businesses were eventually re-privatised, the state retained ownership of one industry: copper.

For nearly a century, copper has meant Chile and Chile copper. University of Montana metals expert Dr. Janet Finn notes, "Its absurd to describe a nation as a miracle of free enterprise when the engine of the economy remains in government hands." (And not just any government hands. A Pinochet law, still in force, gives the military 10% of state copper revenues.)

Copper has provided 30% to 70% of the nation's export earnings. This is the hard currency which has built today's Chile, the proceeds from the mines seized from Anaconda and Kennecott in 1973 - Allende's posthumous gift to his nation.

Agribusiness is the second locomotive of Chile's economic growth. This also is a legacy of the Allende years. According to Professor Arturo Vasquez of Georgetown University, Washington DC, Allende's land reform, the break-up of feudal estates (which Pinochet could not fully reverse), created a new class of productive tiller-owners, along with corporate and cooperative operators, who now bring in a stream of export earnings to rival copper. "In order to have an economic miracle," says Dr. Vasquez, "maybe you need a socialist government first to commit agrarian reform."

So there we have it. Keynes and Marx, not Friedman, saved Chile.

But the myth of the free-market Miracle persists because it serves a quasi-religious function. Within the faith of the Reaganauts and Thatcherites, Chile provides the necessary genesis fable, the ersatz Eden from which laissez-faire dogma sprang successful and shining.

Half a globe away from Chile, an alternative economic experiment was succeeding quietly and bloodlessly. The southern Indian state of Kerala is the laboratory for the humane development theories of Amartya Sen, this year's winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. Committed to income re-distribution and universal social services, Kerala built an economy on intensive public education. As the world's most literate state, it earns its hard currency from the export of technical assistance to Gulf nations. If you've heard little or nothing of Sen and Kerala, maybe it is because they pose an annoying challenge to the neoliberal consensus.

This week, the international finance Gang of Four - the World Bank, the IMF, the Inter-American Development Bank and the International Bank for Settlements - offered a $41.5 billion line of credit to Brazil. But before the agencies hand the drowning nation a life preserver, they demand Brazil commit to swallow the economic medicine that nearly killed Chile. You know the list: fire-sale privatisations, flexible labor markets (i.e. union demolition) and deficit reduction through savage cuts in government services and social security.

Here in Sao Paulo, the public is assured these cruel measures will ultimately benefit the average Brazilian. What looks like financial colonialism is sold as the cure-all tested in Chile with miraculous results.

But that miracle was in fact a hoax, a fraud, a fairy tale in which everyone did not live happily ever after.

Gregory Palast writes the award-winning column, "Iside Corporate America" fortnightly in Britain's Sunday newsaper, The Observer, part of the Guardian Media Group, where this first appeared. For comments or request to reprint, contact: www.gregorypalast.com
http://www.igc.org/trac/feature/humanrts/history/palast2.html

True Christmas Spirit!

2011-12-04T21:05:00.003-05:00

Posted by Roger Haber on facebook:

Hard to resist!

Paul Craig Roberts: We have a republican party that is a Gestapo party

2011-12-03T14:21:00.002-05:00

There is a bill in the Senate that is attempting to keep torture alive as an interrogation technique. The National Defense Authorization Act is being debated in Congress and if passed, American citizens could be detained without a court hearing anywhere in the world. President Obama stated he will veto the bill if it should pass. Is Senate Bill 1867 threatening the US constitution? Paul Craig Roberts, former Reagan administration official and columnist, gives us his take on the proposed bill.

And Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown supported this.

Global Efforts

2011-12-02T20:28:00.004-05:00

Discovered on facebook, BirdLife offers information about efforts around the globe, like the one below --

From: Save our Seabirds (SOS) Festival 2011

This year, BirdLife South Africa’s Save Our Seabirds Festival tackled the issues of overfishing, pollution and habitat loss.

The Proudly South African band, Freshlyground, delivered a flashmob style performance at the V&A Waterfront in support of Birdlife South Africa and the Save Our Seabirds Festival.

Who Can Argue With 300 Economists?

2011-11-30T17:17:00.001-05:00

300 Economists Who Stand With #OccupyWallStreet

An extremely well-made clip, featuring economists who get it — and have signed a statement in solidarity.

Occupy Economics from Softbox on Vimeo.

Something is wrong.....

2011-11-28T18:50:00.003-05:00

Regardless of the location or state, this travesty surrounds us - a developed nation that has rewarded bankers and investment fraud with riches that trashed the global economy.

Senator Brown refuses to eliminate Dirty Energy subsidies and tax the wealthy, while Grover Norquist continues to pontificate.

It's time to restore sensible economic principals and sanity and view the federal budget as a moral statement.

Reinventing Fire

2011-11-25T19:50:00.004-05:00

From the Clean Energy Specialists at Rocky Mountain Institute:

The Reinventing Fire Launch at National Geographic - What's Your Commitment?

Last month, Rocky Mountain Institute launched Reinventing Fire at National Geographic's headquarters in Washington, D.C. At the event, Chief Scientist Amory Lovins outlined a path to a new energy era by 2050, one that relies on efficiency and renewables rather than fossil fuels yet costs $5 trillion less than today and offers a more competitive U.S.economy with greater opportunities for job creation and growth for the nation.

We asked the attendees what they are doing to "Reinvent Fire." Listen, and be inspired as we are by what we heard.

The business advantages of clean energy are within reach. An energy future free of fossil fuels is no longer a dream, it's a modern reality. The time is right to seize this opportunity.

"Humans are inventing a new fire--not dug from below but flowing from above, not scarce but bountiful, not local but everywhere," Lovins told the crowd. "This new fire is not transient but permanent…and grown in ways that sustain and endure. Each of you owns a piece of that $5-trillion prize."

Big Carbon's Sock Puppets Declare War

2011-11-25T19:33:00.006-05:00

Big Carbon's Sock Puppets Declare War
By Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Reader Supported News

Big Carbon's sock puppets declare war on America and the planet.

It's now become de rigueur among the radical right-wing rhetoricians to characterize any government support of America's green energy sector as wasteful, fruitless, and scandalous. They greeted with glee the collapse of the government supported solar company, Solyndra, America's first major casualty in our race with China to dominate the "new energy" economy. With Solyndra dying on the battlefield - its marketplace choking on inexpensive Chinese solar panels - the right-wing's response was to hoist the white flag and declare defeat in the war for global cleantech leadership. That brand of "Can't Do" cowardice is a boon to the carbon and nuclear power incumbents who fund so much of the right-wing's activities - but it's bad for America.

Leveraging the aberrant Solyndra bankruptcy, these groups have launched an orchestrated series of attacks against the renewables sector by trying to discredit other companies, even those that are driving America forward with innovative solutions that actually do compete on a global basis. For example, last month, Fox News ran a story insinuating that SunPower received a loan guarantee for its Central Valley Solar Ranch project because of its political connections Congressman George Miller. The story also suggested that SunPower was struggling financially and posed another risk to taxpayers - a la Solyndra. The truth is that SunPower is one of America's strongest solar manufacturing companies and Mr. Miller had nothing to do with the company receiving a loan guarantee for its Central Valley Solar Ranch Project. To Fox News and other right-wing media sources, the facts meant very little. Their intent is only to suggest wrong-doing in an attempt to undermine the Obama Administration and its clean energy goals.

Last week found the right-wing echo chamber, from Fox News to the New York Post and the conservative blogosphere, in an anti-green frenzy based on faux facts from a new book, "Throw Them All Out." The author of this far-fetched screed is Peter Schweizer, Sarah Palin's foreign policy guru, currently employed by the Hoover Institution, a think tank funded largely by oil interests (e.g., Exxon, ARCO, Transamerica, and Richard Mellon Scaife's oil and banking fortune) to craft the philosophical underpinnings for unregulated pollution, unrestricted corporate profit taking, and massive corporate welfare for the carbon/nuke incumbents.

Thanks to a mention in Schweizer's far-fetched opus, I got a shout out, last week from most of these crackpot gas bags. The Daily Mail summarized my supposed crimes in its headline: "JFK's nephew received $1.4 billion dollar taxpayer bailout for his struggling green energy firm."

All of the reported "facts" in this blogosphonic barrage were Schweizer's inventions. Schweizer claims that BrightSource Energy received a government bailout due to political influence exerted on behalf of VantagePoint Capital Partners, where I am a partner and which is the largest institutional shareholder of BrightSource.

The actual facts do not support Schweizer's claims. BrightSource Energy did not receive a bailout. Rather, the Ivanpah project, a 392 megawatt solar thermal project in the Mojave Desert that will provide clean power to 140,000 homes, received a loan guarantee from the Department of Energy (DOE). Ivanpah, which broke ground in October 2010, is majority owned by Google and energy giant NRG. BrightSource is a minority owner of and the technology supplier to the Ivanpah project. The underlying loan from private investors is fully secured, and pays interest that will earn a healthy return for U.S. taxpayers.

Unlike Solyndra which received corporate financing from DOE, and which had no assurance that it would be able to sell its product, Ivanpah and the Central Valley Solar Ranch projects have contractual commitments from California's largest utilities to buy all of its power at fixed prices. This is comparable to building a new hotel with the guarantee that it will have 100% occupancy rates for 20+ years.

Schweizer's claims that the loan guarantee works out to a cost to taxpayers of $1 million per job is also a canard.

The Ivanpah project is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the nation and the largest solar thermal plant under construction in the world. The project's three year construction phase will create 1,400 highly-skilled trade, engineering and construction jobs at peak. These are high paying union jobs in a region plagued by one of America's highest unemployment rates. The project will generate $250 million in earnings for these construction workers and, over its 30 year life, will produce $650 million in earnings for workers on the site, including the 90 permanent jobs required to operate the plant.

Finally, the $2.2 billion Ivanpah project is an investment in America's future with substantial indirect economic benefits locally and across the nation. The majority of the project's supply chain is being sourced domestically across 17 states, driving investments throughout the country and creating additional jobs in other areas of the United States that have been adversely affected by the economic downturn. The Ivanpah project is also generating $300 million in state and local tax revenues over its life.

The right-wing's campaign against the DOE's support of renewable energy is not in our national interest. The DOE loan guarantee program has been extremely successful in providing debt financing to innovative energy projects in the wake of the 2008 credit market challenges. Access to capital is a crucial component of building innovative energy infrastructure and creating economic benefit. The DOE loan guarantee program has also been very successful at attracting private capital to these projects. Each dollar appropriated for the program leverages $13 dollars in private sector investment. As of August 2011, DOE had made commitments to 37 clean energy projects, leveraging private investment of more than $40 billion. This includes more than 10 utility-scale solar power projects in the Southwest, including SunPower's Central Valley Solar Ranch and BrightSource's Ivanpah. These projects are estimated to create tens of thousands of jobs across the country.

Where Is the Right-Wing Opposition to the Obscene Subsidies to Carbon and Nuke?

The frenzy against government support for green energy is ironic considering the silence from those same quarters regarding the hundreds of billions of dollars in annual subsidies and externalized costs flowing from government and the American public to the carbon and nuke companies that fund the right-wing think tanks and the conservative blogosphere.

The same DOE loan guarantee program that supported the solar projects gave an astonishing $8.3 billion loan guarantee - many times the size of the solar projects - to Southern Company to build two nuclear power plants. Nuclear power is an industry with a product so expensive it cannot compete in any version of free market capitalism. Big nuke is totally dependent on massive, monstrous public and government subsidies at every stage of its life. Oil is a close second. A comprehensive inventory of oil subsidies by former California EPA Chief Terry Tamminen, in his acclaimed book Lives Per Gallon, calculates U.S. subsidies to the oil industry at upward of one trillion dollars annually!

The Rise of Green Energy

This blogosphere wrangling is part of a larger struggle pitting disruptive technologies like LED lights, electric cars, and renewable energy such as wind and solar - the clean, green democratic, abundant, and patriotic fuels from heaven - against the powerful incumbents of coal, oil, and nuke - the destructive, plutocratic, largely foreign owned, addictive, poisonous, destructive, and war breeding fuels from hell.

The green fuels are winning. Solar power is now at or near grid parity in many U.S. states. That means that solar generators can deliver electricity to consumers at or below the cost of coal or oil, without even considering the catastrophic health and environmental costs that these dirty sources create. Energy industry giants like NRG, which owns coal and nuke fleets, are moving aggressively into solar. "Solar is the future," says NRG CEO David Crane. "Over the long term, solar won't need the government to drive adaptation - the pace of innovation is so rapid and the costs are dropping so quickly that the marketplace will ultimately force the transition. Government incentives are important in that they will drive a quicker adaptation and keep American companies in the game."

Crane points out that his vendors are already offering solar panels at slightly less than $1.00 per watt, leading to an all-in cost of installed solar on a distributed basis of $2.50/watt. This, according to Crane, translates into 12¢/kilowatt hour, making home grown solar energy cheaper than the grid in 20 states.

Experience shows that these industries are demonstrated jobs producers. There are already more Americans employed by the solar industry (110,000) than there are coal miners (90,000), and the wind industry (75,000) is rapidly expanding its workforce.

The only questions now are: How fast will the transition occur? Which nations will lead the way and reap the financial rewards of that leadership?

Unfortunately, due to the outsized influence of big coal, oil, and nuke on our Congress, America is lagging.

China's Leadership

China's bold strategy is to dominate the new energy economy with giant investments in wind, solar, LED light bulbs, smart grid systems, and electric cars. Despite our strong lead among entrepreneurs, the American government's willingness to compete with the Chinese in these domains has been anemic. The Waxman-Markey bill, which passed the House and then died under pressure from the carbon cronies in the Senate, would have increased solar deployment in America by a mere 37% by 2020. The Chinese have already committed to increase their solar development by 20,000% during that period and wind development by 1200%. While the right-wing whines about a $1.6 billion loan guarantee to a solar project, the Chinese are funneling $758 billion to their solar and wind industry over 5 years.

I commend the Chinese for their commitment to transition to a green energy economy. But I refuse to accept the right-wing narrative that America can no longer compete in the world marketplace. Americans still lead the world in patents filed and the other indicia of entrepreneurship. The promising new technologies and young green tech companies that I see daily are challenged principally by a lack of capital available from our banks and government. This is more than an issue of national wealth and prosperity - our national security is also at stake. The war by America's carbon and nuclear energy industries and their right-wing allies, against our country's burgeoning cleantech industry is damaging our economy and subverting our national security, just as it has in the past led us into oil wars. When I was a boy, America owned half the wealth on Earth. We lost that advantage mainly due to our carbon addiction, which still causes us to hemorrhage nearly $750 billion annually in American wealth - the cost of importing foreign oil. The Chinese would naturally like us to spend what's left of our national wealth purchasing Chinese solar panels, Chinese LED lights, and Chinese wind turbines and electric cars.

Democrats and Republicans in Congress, many in the thrall of Big Carbon, are sitting on their hands as the hemorrhage continues. The incumbents are able to control the political process in Washington with the support of their right-wing media flacks, and with hundreds of millions in annual contributions and lobbying. Such investments allow the incumbents to reap hundreds of billions in annual subsidies from U.S. taxpayers, artificially ballooning their profits. These are self-destructive policies for America. With the same resolve that established America's industrial and technological greatness in the 20th century, leading the transition to a new energy economy is America's best hope for true national security, prosperity, and restoring our global leadership and moral authority.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is President of Waterkeeper Alliance, Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, and a Partner in VantagePoint Capital Partners.

No One Is Safe!

2011-11-25T16:12:00.003-05:00

Any rational person can see in this video just how much she cares about what happens to real people, and how capable she is of effectively making a stand for them. Watch:

This Is Why Elizabeth Warren Should Win Any Damn Elected Office She Ever Runs For

Whaling journal up for grabs at Massachusetts auction

2011-11-24T06:43:00.003-05:00

Whaling journal by Charles W. Morgan crewman up for grabs at Massachusetts auction
By Joe Wojtas
Publication: The Day

Mystic - A Massachusetts auction house on Saturday plans to auction off a journal written by a Charles W. Morgan crewman who was thought to have been lost at sea after he harpooned a whale and took an infamous Nantucket sleigh ride off the Russian coast in 1890.

The journal was penned by N. A. Martin, who kept it in the 1880s during three partial voyages aboard the whaling vessel now owned by Mystic Seaport.

According to Frank McNamee of Marion Antique Auctions in Marion, Mass., the last voyage Martin chronicled began out of San Francisco. While in the Sea of Okhotsk, Martin and crew of the whaleboat harpooned a whale and were dragged out of sight of the Morgan.

The ship left the area without finding the men, who later reached the Russian coast, where they were initially jailed as spies.

They eventually made their way by ship to Hong Kong and back to New Bedford, Mass., the Morgan's home port.

Martin's entries ended the day he was left behind by the Morgan. The journal ended up in California with descendants of Martin. In the 1960s, McNamee said the Seaport talked with the owner about donating it to the museum.

But the journal ended up instead with a family in Mattapoisett, Mass., who recently discovered it in a shoebox and decided to sell it at auction after learning it could be worth as much as $5,000.

McNamee said research done by the New Bedford Whaling Museum shows that it is the only surviving logbook or journal from that voyage.

"You can tell Martin wasn't a writer. He didn't have an advanced education. But this is still a great historic document for the ship and the time period," he said.

The journal is among the auction items that includes the collections of Wareham, Mass., historian George C. Decas who collected paintings by the Thompson family of Middleboro, Mass., a family of artists from the 19th century. Also in the auction is a document signed by John Hancock.

McNamee said he expects museums such as the Seaport as well as private collectors to have interest in bidding on the journal.

Dan McFadden, the Seaport's director of communications, said Tuesday the museum is aware of the auction.

"Obviously, we have an interest in any artifacts associated with the Charles W. Morgan, and our curators keep track of items when they become available. It is our policy not to comment further on an upcoming auction," he said.

In addition to the Morgan itself, the museum has many Morgan artifacts, including logbooks and crew journals, in its collection.

The catalog can be viewed online at www.marionantiqueauctions.com. The sale begins at noon on Saturday at the Marion VFW.

Viewing is Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 9 to 11:30 a.m.

The Bright Future of Lighting: LEDs

2011-11-24T06:07:00.005-05:00

From the specialists at Jeston Green, is a wide assortment of new information about the lighting innovation and new products that's worth watching.

As more products enter the market and popularity grows, the prices will become more attractive.

LEDO Offers Inventive LED Bulb Designs

Toshiba Unveils Traditional Looking LED

LSG Unveils $30 60-watt Equivalent LED

Also listed, was a helpful Lighting Facts Guide to simplify buying.

Lakeville Republican Keiko Orrall won after being outspent

2011-11-24T06:02:00.002-05:00

Lakeville Republican Keiko Orrall won after being outspent
State House News Service

LAKEVILLE — Lakeville Republican Keiko Orrall bucked a campaign finance trend by defeating an opponent who outspent her during the run up to a special election in September.

Orrall’s win flipped the 12th Bristol seat from Democratic control for the first time in more than 30 years. In addition to New Bedford and Lakeville, the district includes parts Taunton, Middleboro and Freetown.

Campaign finance statistics released Monday show Middleboro Democrat Roger Brunelle, a commercial and industrial painter and 19-year member of a painters union, outspent Orrall, $39,727 to $26,179 and also benefited from $11,475 in independent expenditures from the Massachusetts Teachers Association and $6,301 from 1199 SEIU. Brunelle also received support from Lt. Gov. Tim Murray.

Orrall’s campaign contributions included $8,636 from the Marlborough Republican City Committee and $3,241 from the Republican State Committee.

Orrall won the seat given up by Stephen Canessa, a New Bedford Democrat who left to take a post at Southcoast Health Systems. Voters in Lakeville turned out in greater numbers than nearby New Bedford precincts, choosing Orrall by a three-to-one margin. Brunelle won New Bedford handily but the small turnout there, less than 11 percent, helped Orrall.

State Spends $2400 to House Family?

2011-11-21T19:30:00.005-05:00

Does this even make sense? Common sense seems lacking.

Housing a homeless family in a hotel room at that rate is a monthly cost of $2,400 to the state. Both city officials and Guerra said housing the family in a Brockton apartment would cost less than that.

Brockton homeless family moved to Middleboro motel
By Maria Papadopoulos
Enterprise Staff Writer

MIDDLEBORO — The same day a story ran in The Enterprise about their homeless plight, Ramon Guerra says the state moved him and his four young children from a Brockton motel farther away to another motel in Middleboro.

Guerra, who drives his four children, ages 6 to 13, to two schools in Brockton, said that weekday trip has now increased by 32 miles.

“It’s crazy. It’s frustrating,” said Guerra, 38, whose family has been homeless since 2009, on Sunday.

On Friday, staff at the Quality Inn in Brockton – where Guerra and his four children had been housed in one cramped room since March – told the family to leave, Guerra said.

The motel provides emergency housing for homeless families. It is the same motel where an 18-month-old boy fell from a second-floor window in March. The boy, who survived the fall, had been living there with his mother and 5-year-old sister, but and was taken into custody by the state after the accident.

“They told me, ‘Listen, pack up your stuff, because you’re out of here. You got a transfer,’” said Guerra, 38. “I said, ‘Where am I getting transferred?’”

The Enterprise on Friday published a front-page story about Guerra and his family living in one city motel room on Belmont Street. His children had been dealing with flea bites and living off frozen food heated in a microwave. The family was crammed into a room roughly half the size mandated by state law.

Guerra said he and his children are now sharing one room, similar in size to the Brockton room, at the Days Inn in Middleboro. He said the two beds in the Middleboro room are smaller – full size compared with the queen-size beds his family had slept on in Brockton. There is also one refrigerator, a microwave and a bathroom.

Guerra said he received a transfer letter on Friday from Ellen Lively, homeless coordinator at the Brockton office of the Department of Transitional Assistance.

The letter did not state the reason for the transfer, he said.

Lively and a spokeswoman from the state Department of Transitional Assistance could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Jennifer Manley, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Health, could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

A Quality Inn manager on Sunday referred all questions to the hotel’s general manager, Sidd Bhowmik, who could not be reached for comment.

The state spent $161.4 million on family shelters in fiscal 2011, up $10 million from the year prior. Already the state is on pace to spend $175.6 million in fiscal 2012, including $56.8 million on HomeBASE, a rental subsidy program for homeless families.

But just three months after rolling out HomeBASE, the program has already required a major cash infusion, and the Department of Housing and Community Development has suspended benefits for new applicants retroactive to Oct. 28, citing “unanticipated demand” for services.

Earlier this month, Gov. Deval Patrick approved an additional $39.2 million in funding for emergency housing assistance in a mid-year spending bill, including $18.2 million for the Home BASE program that increases funding for the new initiative to $56.8 million in fiscal 2012.

Since the program’s launch in August, requests for shelter and housing assistance skyrocketed from 500 to 1,000 in August and 932 in September, according to the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

The program was designed to move families out of temporary shelters and state subsidized hotel and motel rooms into more permanent housing and surround them with the support services necessary to help them pay rent and keep their homes.

As of March, there were 166 homeless families living in Brockton hotels, at an average cost to the state of $80 a night.

Housing a homeless family in a hotel room at that rate is a monthly cost of $2,400 to the state. Both city officials and Guerra said housing the family in a Brockton apartment would cost less than that.

“This has become a cash cow for hotels. I’m looking at the safety issue and the health issue,” Board of Health Executive Director Louis Tartaglia said Thursday.

Tartaglia said he is seeking guidance from the state, but is having difficulty getting it. He said he would not issue any citations until state officials return his calls and explain whether the state sanitary code applies to emergency housing.

Meanwhile, Brockton can provide school transportation for Guerra’s children from Middleboro to Brockton, Brockton Superintendent of Schools Matt Malone said Sunday.

Malone said that it is the responsibility of the district where a child was living when they became homeless to provide transportation.

“It’s unfortunate that these situations happen all the time. When they’re brought to us, we address them in a humane manner and with empathy,” said Malone, who urged Guerra to call his office on Monday to set up transportation.

But Guerra said he wants to continue driving his children to school. He also wants his children to continue attending school in Brockton, where he said his children are thriving.

Guerra said he and his children have been homeless since 2009, after he lost his job as a truck driving instructor in Florida the year before. He said he lost the job after he had two elbow replacements and that his left arm has metal rods in it.

Before living in area motels, Guerra said his family lived in a partially subsidized apartment and a family shelter in Brockton. He hopes to live in an apartment with his children soon.

“I just tell them this (motel) is a place for now, until we get a home,” Guerra said. “I just don’t get their hopes up.”

Material from the State House News Service was used in this report.

Animal Cruelty Brought to You By McDonalds

2011-11-19T06:39:00.004-05:00

The Rotten Truth About Egg McMuffins

A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation into a McDonald's egg supplier, Sparboe Egg Farms, exposes the fast-food giant's secret ingredient: shocking cruelty to animals.

Hidden-camera footage taken at Sparboe facilities in Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado reveals:

Hens crammed into filthy wire cages with less space for each bird than a standard-sized sheet of paper to live her entire miserable life, unable to fully stretch her wings or engage in most other natural behaviors

Workers burning off the beaks of young chicks without any painkillers and callously throwing them into cages, some missing the cage doors and hitting the floor
Workers grabbing hens by their throats and ramming them into battery cages

Rotted hens, decomposed beyond recognition as birds, left in cages with hens still laying eggs for human consumption

A worker tormenting a bird by swinging her around in the air while her legs were caught in a grabbing device - violence described as "torture" by another worker

A worker shoving a bird into the pocket of another employee without any regard for the animal's fear and suffering

Chicks trapped and mangled in cage wire - others suffering from open wounds and torn beaks

Live chicks thrown into plastic bags to be suffocated

Common sense tells us that animals should be given at a minimum the freedom to walk, stretch their limbs, turn around and engage in natural behaviors. Yet, this McDonald's supplier deprives hens of even these most basic freedoms. After viewing the undercover footage, Dr. Sara Shields, research scientist, poultry specialist and consultant in animal welfare, condemned battery-cage egg production:

Battery cage operations are inherently cruel. The barren, restrictive environment offers no hope for an acceptable quality of life, and such severely overcrowded confinement would be unthinkable for any other farmed species. World-wide, there is increasing recognition that battery cages are simply not appropriate housing.

In fact, barren battery cages are so cruel that the entire European Union and the states of California and Michigan have banned their use. Additionally, leading food retailers, such as Whole Foods, Hellmann's, Wolfgang Puck and Subway, and hundreds of colleges and universities refuse to use or sell eggs from hens subjected to the inherent abuses of battery cages.

MFA is calling on McDonald's Corporation to end its use of eggs from hens confined in battery cages in the United States, as it has already in the European Union. As Dr. Shields states, "Animals are designed to move, are biologically prepared for regular movement, and will suffer physical consequences if they are not given the freedom to exercise."

Sadly, not a single federal law currently provides any protection to birds at the hatchery, on the factory farm, or during slaughter. Further, most states - including those in which this investigation was conducted - have sweeping exemptions for farmed animals, which allow for abuses to run rampant without prosecution.

As the largest egg purchaser in the United States, McDonald's has enormous power in effecting improved standards of care for egg-laying hens. Accordingly, MFA is also asking that McDonald's actively support a recent agreement between the United Egg Producers and The Humane Society of the United States that seeks to establish federal regulations that would provide hens enough space to turn around, as well as environmental enrichments, such as perches and nesting boxes. The agreement is a modest but important first step in establishing minimal standards for care of birds on a federal level. Sadly, Sparboe Egg Farms is aggressively opposing the implementation of even these meager reforms to reduce animal suffering.

While McDonald's has the moral obligation and purchasing power to lessen the cruelty suffered by the millions of hens who are abused and exploited to produce eggs for its restaurants, consumers also hold enormous power of their own in preventing animal abuse by adopting a compassionate vegan diet.

Yippee! 33% Reduction in Use of Plastic Bags

2011-11-18T11:23:00.005-05:00

Thanks to consumers, a pretty impressive reduction in Plastic Grocery Bags has been achieved ahead of the target date.

And thanks also to the stores that have reminder signs posted - "Did you forget your reusable bags?" (How many times have those signs prevented me from entering the store without those bags?)

Reusable shopping bags make life so much easier.

After all, you don't have to consider the disposal:

curbside disposal (which increases municipal waste disposal costs)

or recycling (having to accumulate the used bags to return to the supermarket, if you remember)?

Some of those 'reusable' bags are now available in chic designer styles that might make a good Christmas gift. Hint! Hint!

Thanks for all you do to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection

MassDEP, Massachusetts Food Association Announce Significant Reduction in Disposable Shopping Bag Use at Supermarkets

Initiative to Encourage Long-term Recycling and Reusable Bag Use Hits Goal 2 Years Early

BOSTON - The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and the Massachusetts Food Association (MFA) today announced that a joint initiative with the grocery and supermarket industry to reduce the number of disposable paper and plastic shopping bags distributed in Massachusetts has achieved excellent results during the first three years - a reduction of 33 percent since 2007.

"A 33 percent reduction in the use of disposable plastic and paper bags is impressive, and I applaud the public-private partnership that helped to make it possible," Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard K. Sullivan Jr. said. "I want to thank the grocery stores and supermarkets for working with MassDEP to reduce disposable bag use, and the public for responding to their efforts."

As part of the voluntary initiative, 12 supermarket chains, comprised of 384 stores representing more than two-thirds of the industry in Massachusetts, have been participating in the effort by tracking annual paper and plastic bag usage. Participating chains reported a 33 percent reduction in disposable bag distribution in Massachusetts since 2007. The goal of the initiative is a reduction of at least 33 percent by 2013.

"A key MassDEP priority is to minimize the waste stream, and reducing the use of disposable bags by 33 percent is a great step forward," MassDEP Commissioner Kenneth L. Kimmell said. "Having met the initial goal two years early does not mean an end to the effort. Consumers are obviously adopting new behaviors and we hope to see continued reduction in the future."

"On behalf our supermarket and grocery store members, MFA applauds the results of the joint initiative that the industry and MassDEP officially launched in March of 2009," MFA President Christopher Flynn said. "By achieving a 33 percent reduction in the use of disposable paper and plastic bags by using an incentive-based, voluntary approach, we have shown that a balance between environmental stewardship and consumer choice can achieve significant results. We look forward to continuing our work with the state to build upon this success and further reduce the reliance on disposable bags in our stores."

Each supermarket chain has implemented steps to encourage using less disposable bags, including training staff to reduce wasteful distribution of bags, offering reusable bags for sale, providing cash incentives for reusable bag use, accepting used plastic bags for recycling and posting instructional signs reminding patrons not to forget to bring their reusable bags.

In addition to the industry working to reduce the distribution of disposable shopping bags, MassDEP has created a consumer brochure entitled Sack the Bag that encourages shoppers to use fewer disposable bags. Access the brochure here: http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/reduce/sackbag.pdf

Participating grocery chains include: Big Y Supermarkets, Crosby's, DeMoulas Market Basket, Donelan's, Foodmaster, Hannaford Bros., Price Chopper, PriceRite, Roche Bros., Shaw's Supermarkets, The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., and Trucchi's.

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MassDEP is responsible for ensuring clean air and water, safe management and recycling of solid and hazardous wastes, timely cleanup of hazardous waste sites and spills, and the preservation of wetlands and coastal resources.
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The Story of Broke

2011-11-14T17:03:00.004-05:00

Let's keep it simple, focus on our quality of life and the promise of a better future!

This is about US - not about Big Corporations, Dirty Energy and subsidizing Big Polluters.

Together we can make this happen.

It's our money, our planet and our future after all.

Here Comes the Sun

2011-11-07T14:51:00.002-05:00

Paul Krugman got this one right --

Here Comes the Sun
Op-Ed Columnist
By PAUL KRUGMAN

For decades the story of technology has been dominated, in the popular mind and to a large extent in reality, by computing and the things you can do with it. Moore’s Law — in which the price of computing power falls roughly 50 percent every 18 months — has powered an ever-expanding range of applications, from faxes to Facebook.

Our mastery of the material world, on the other hand, has advanced much more slowly. The sources of energy, the way we move stuff around, are much the same as they were a generation ago.

But that may be about to change. We are, or at least we should be, on the cusp of an energy transformation, driven by the rapidly falling cost of solar power. That’s right, solar power.

If that surprises you, if you still think of solar power as some kind of hippie fantasy, blame our fossilized political system, in which fossil fuel producers have both powerful political allies and a powerful propaganda machine that denigrates alternatives.

Speaking of propaganda: Before I get to solar, let’s talk briefly about hydraulic fracturing, a k a fracking.

Fracking — injecting high-pressure fluid into rocks deep underground, inducing the release of fossil fuels — is an impressive technology. But it’s also a technology that imposes large costs on the public. We know that it produces toxic (and radioactive) wastewater that contaminates drinking water; there is reason to suspect, despite industry denials, that it also contaminates groundwater; and the heavy trucking required for fracking inflicts major damage on roads.

Economics 101 tells us that an industry imposing large costs on third parties should be required to “internalize” those costs — that is, to pay for the damage it inflicts, treating that damage as a cost of production. Fracking might still be worth doing given those costs. But no industry should be held harmless from its impacts on the environment and the nation’s infrastructure.

Yet what the industry and its defenders demand is, of course, precisely that it be let off the hook for the damage it causes. Why? Because we need that energy! For example, the industry-backed organization energyfromshale.org declares that “there are only two sides in the debate: those who want our oil and natural resources developed in a safe and responsible way; and those who don’t want our oil and natural gas resources developed at all.”

So it’s worth pointing out that special treatment for fracking makes a mockery of free-market principles. Pro-fracking politicians claim to be against subsidies, yet letting an industry impose costs without paying compensation is in effect a huge subsidy. They say they oppose having the government “pick winners,” yet they demand special treatment for this industry precisely because they claim it will be a winner.

And now for something completely different: the success story you haven’t heard about.

These days, mention solar power and you’ll probably hear cries of “Solyndra!” Republicans have tried to make the failed solar panel company both a symbol of government waste — although claims of a major scandal are nonsense — and a stick with which to beat renewable energy.

But Solyndra’s failure was actually caused by technological success: the price of solar panels is dropping fast, and Solyndra couldn’t keep up with the competition. In fact, progress in solar panels has been so dramatic and sustained that, as a blog post at Scientific American put it, “there’s now frequent talk of a ‘Moore’s law’ in solar energy,” with prices adjusted for inflation falling around 7 percent a year.

This has already led to rapid growth in solar installations, but even more change may be just around the corner. If the downward trend continues — and if anything it seems to be accelerating — we’re just a few years from the point at which electricity from solar panels becomes cheaper than electricity generated by burning coal.

And if we priced coal-fired power right, taking into account the huge health and other costs it imposes, it’s likely that we would already have passed that tipping point.

But will our political system delay the energy transformation now within reach?

Let’s face it: a large part of our political class, including essentially the entire G.O.P., is deeply invested in an energy sector dominated by fossil fuels, and actively hostile to alternatives. This political class will do everything it can to ensure subsidies for the extraction and use of fossil fuels, directly with taxpayers’ money and indirectly by letting the industry off the hook for environmental costs, while ridiculing technologies like solar.

So what you need to know is that nothing you hear from these people is true. Fracking is not a dream come true; solar is now cost-effective. Here comes the sun, if we’re willing to let it in.

Pathetic Charade

2011-11-06T10:25:00.005-05:00

Fighting wars on the American credit card and promoting the false solution of "Trickle Down," Koch funded Tea Partiers would have you believe that slashing Social Security, a solvent program is productive.

T'ain't so!

From Just Scrap the Cap --

Let's talk turkey - specifically about those turkeys who want to cut Social Security benefits. Specifically—The members of the Supercommittee, who are once again looking to cut Social Security’s mechanism to keep up with inflation—the COLA—as it looks for a way to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion. But why are they looking there?

Social Security sure as heck doesn’t cause the deficit. Social Security's trust fund has a $2.6 trillion surplus right now. The program has enough income to pay everyone's benefits in full for another 25 years. If anyone tells you Social Security is going broke, they're blowing more smoke than a chimney. And cutting Social Security’s COLA would have a real impact on today’s retirees (as well as people with disabilities and other beneficiaries) — an impact that is illustrated in the video below, prepared by the Economic Opportunity Institute:

Please consider signing the petition: HERE

Just wondering.....

2011-11-04T21:20:00.007-04:00

Oak Point goes for $55 million, largest property sale in Middleboro history
An Illinois company buys 870-unit, over-55 community
By Alice Elwell
enterprise correspondent

MIDDLEBORO —
The Oak Point over-55 residential complex was sold this week to an Illinois company for $55 million, the largest real-estate sale in Middleboro history, the town assessor said.

Hometown America, a privately held company based in Illinois, purchased the 1,000-acre, 870-unit Oak Point complex. Hometown owns and operates more than 100 manufactured housing communities across the country.

Company Vice President William Glascott said on Wednesday that Oak Point is the fifth community Hometown owns in Massachusetts. The others are Leisurewoods in Taunton; Leisurewoods in Rockland; Oakhill in Attleboro; Miller’s Woods and River Bend, both in Athol.

Asked about the new ownership’s role at Oak Point, Glascott said, “Certainly there are changes with any management transition. Our goal is to limit disruption, maintain level services and possibly improve.”

Glascott said the company will build out to 1,165 units but has no plans for additional expansion. He said he plans to meet with local officials and introduce his company.

Oak Point is an over-55 community of freestanding manufactured homes clustered in small neighborhoods. There is a club house, fitness center and ballroom. Owners buy their units, lease the property and pay a monthly maintenance fee.

“I am hopeful (Hometown America) will be as good as Gary and Don have been. They’re a hard team to beat,” Oak Point resident Regina Moriarty said about the previous owners.

“We’ve been very happy here and we’d like to stay,” she said. “I look forward to it being the same way it always has been.”

Gary Darman, the former principal partner of Oak Point, said he is leaving Middleboro after developing Oak Point for the last 30 years.

At 67, Darman said he’s not ready to slow down and will focus his time on retail development.

He is the developer behind Colony Place in Plymouth – destined to possibly be the largest open air plaza in the state. He said he is planning a cluster of auto dealerships at the plaza and has several new tenants lined up. Darman also has eight to 10 more plazas in the works, but nothing slated for Middleboro.

Darman said he and Oak Point partner Don Smith have mixed emotions leaving Middleboro.

“There will be a period of adjustment for me, for Don, for everybody involved, including the residents,” he said.

Town Assessor-Appraiser Barbara Erickson praised the previous owner.

“I think he did a nice job at Oak Point and I would like to see him come back to Middleboro with a retail project. We still have a lot of undeveloped commercial property,” Erickson said.

Joseph F. Freitas Jr., former member of the Planning Board, was an Oak Point supporter from the outset.

“I hope the new owners are as conscientious as Gary Darman,” he said this week.
Lincoln D. Andrews is a former selectman and planning board member who saw the project through most of its permitting.

“The new owner has a high standard to meet in terms of the integrity and support that Gary Darman has given the town,” said Oak Point, under Darman’s management, had a longstanding history of donating to the community. The new owner indicated that might continue.

“We want to be involved with the community, and we will evaluate everything when the time comes,” Glascott said.

If Oak Point sold for $55 million, doesn't the appraised value utilized by the Assessors represent fair market value?

Just wondering....

http://data.visionappraisal.com/MiddleboroMA/findpid.asp?iTable=pid&pid=184784

Valuation: 817,400 [land]

http://data.visionappraisal.com/MiddleboroMA/findpid.asp?iTable=pid&pid=101122

Valuation: 363,400 [land]

http://data.visionappraisal.com/MiddleboroMA/findpid.asp?iTable=pid&pid=101123

Valuation: 171,600

http://data.visionappraisal.com/MiddleboroMA/findpid.asp?iTable=pid&pid=196

Valuation: 347,700

http://data.visionappraisal.com/MiddleboroMA/findpid.asp?iTable=pid&pid=184180

Valuation: 63,400 [land]

http://data.visionappraisal.com/MiddleboroMA/findpid.asp?iTable=pid&pid=101120

Valuation: 408,400

http://data.visionappraisal.com/MiddleboroMA/findpid.asp?iTable=pid&pid=101424

Valuation: 4,141,800

http://data.visionappraisal.com/MiddleboroMA/findpid.asp?iTable=pid&pid=184785

Valuation: 21,055,100 [codes not included within legend provided]

Beacon Hill: Why?

2011-11-03T21:14:00.006-04:00

Phew!

Beacon Hill, obsessed with Gambling Lobbyists, backroom deals and unspoken promises, ignoring scandals, indictments cronyism and public cynicism has finally noticed that there just might be things....you know....the People's business that needs to be conducted.

Who woke them up? What forced them to hear a public outcry when they couldn't even pass an expanded BOTTLE BILL because leadership is too invested in special interests?

House passes pension bill, upping the minimum retirement age, but stopping short of Senate’s changes
By Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff

The state House of Representatives today unanimously approved a plan to tighten the state’s pension provisions and raise the age that lawmakers and public employees are eligible for retirement. The move follows passage of a similar plan by the Senate earlier this fall. Both plans would only affect future hires, not current employees or retirees.

The House version passed today would boost the retirement age from 55 to 57 and could ultimately save $6.4 billion over 30 years, House lawmakers estimate. The Senate version went farther, raising the minimum age for retirement to 60. [How about eliminating pensions and contributing to Social Security, just like the common folks, the taxpayers?]

The Legislature is looking to change the public employee pension system to shrink an estimated $20 billion unfunded liability and to protect the fund for future years.

The bill comes two years after state leaders eliminated loop holes in the state’s pension system, a first step in controlling costs.

Among the perks that were ended in 2009 were a “one day, one year” provision that allowed elected officials to boost their pension by an entire year of service, even if they only worked one day in a calendar year. It also eliminated lawmakers’ practice of collecting a “termination allowance” if they failed to win reelection.

Earlier this week, a House committee passed a version of the bill that included language exempting anyone who was vested in the system before the 2009 law took effect.

But the final bill that passed by the House last night contained no such language.

Rep. John W. Scibak, a South Hadley Democrat who chairs the Joint Committee on Public Service and championed the pension bill, said the stricken language was not an attempt to undo the 2009 reforms.

“This bill is much stronger than what we did a couple years ago,” said Scibak. “I don’t think we should be distracted by the procedural process.”

Neither Scibak nor Seth Gitell, a spokesman for the House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, would say why that language was inserted in the committee’s version but not the final version.

Even after the language was removed from the bill, Scibak filed an amendment that would have allowed elected officials with six years’ service by 2009 to be considered fully vested – even though they do not satisfy the new, 10-year minimum, required by the 2009 law. That amendment was not taken up today.

A separate amendment that did pass calls for employees who shift positions late in their careers to work for at least a year before becoming eligible for a larger pension. The provision appeared to take aim at an attempt by a former Weymouth mayor to boost his pension after he briefly filled in as fire chief just before retiring.

House and Senate lawmakers must now rectify the differences in the two bills.

Did you forget that it was after this? ---

Bill would allow nonprofits into state retirement savings plan.
By Michael Norton
State House News Service

BOSTON — The House on Wednesday voted 143-7 to approve a bill allowing non-profit entities, which represent about 14 percent of the state’s workforce, to access retirement savings plans managed by the state Treasury.

Treasurer Steven Grossman said the legislation, if passed into law, would open up retirement savings options for many smaller non-profit employers currently unable to afford the cost of setting up savings plans. Grossman said the Treasury was not aware of any other state that offers a similar option. [That means Massachusetts taxpayers should absorb the costs why?]

The Treasury currently oversees a deferred compensation plan for about 300,000 people and that plan has close to $5 billion in assets. Grossman said the added costs of administering the plan in a segregated fund for non-profits would be “tiny” given the infrastructure already in place to manage $5 billion in assets.

Which means the costs are what? Tiny? Means what?

“I’m very much hoping that this will move quickly through the Senate,” said Grossman, identifying Sen. Jack Hart (D-South Boston) as the bill’s chief proponent in that branch. [Senator Hart testified in 2010 about how wonderful slot barns were as long as they were some where, any where, far away, in places like...well....maybe Middleboro....or maybe that other town in western Massachusetts whose name he couldn't remember...ah! The best and the brightest!]

The bill (H 3754) was approved with no debate and after Reps. Garrett Bradley (D-Hingham) and James Cantwell (D-Marshfield) spoke in favor of the proposal.

Bradley said the bill (H 3754) would make available new pre-tax retirement savings opportunities for employers that lack the cash overhead to set up retirement plans. "No state money is involved," he said.

The bill requires the treasurer to obtain approval from the Internal Revenue Service for the plan and to ensure that the plan complies with the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

“We have a strong sense that this will be viewed positively by the I.R.S.,” he said.

The bill contains language ensuring public bidding on plan management, Grossman said.

Asked his advice for employees who don’t work for non-profits and whose employers do not offer retirement savings plans, Grossman said that’s a public policy matter worth further consideration.

“There are huge gaps out there,” Grossman said. “That’s a conversation for another day. I certainly am cognizant of the financial insecurity that many people feel while approaching retirement.”

Grossman’s predecessor, Tim Cahill, pressed for a similar bill in 2009. At the time, Massachusetts Nonprofit Network officials said less than one in five non-profit employees had a retirement plan and the a lack of retirement and other benefits at non-profits hindered their ability to recruit top workers.

Making "Entitlement" a Dirty Word

2011-11-03T20:58:00.004-04:00

Medicare and Social Security - both programs funded by tax contributions - have become Dirty Words.

Just keep watching because the seething anger of Republicans (and ATR) about the safety net - the Depression Era programs designed to lend a helping hand that are self-supporting, are on the chopping block.

When we can abandon the most effective programs in our history and relegate the 'least among us' to further impoverishment, what does that say about the Republican Party?

The Republicans didn't seem to have a problem with utilizing the surpluses in those programs to fight wars on the 'credit card.'

When the U.S. spends more for 'defense' than all other industrialized nations combined, maybe we should re-consider our priorities.

Boehner open to revenue increases but calls for significant entitlement reforms as part of debt plan
By Bobby Caina Calvan, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker John Boehner said today he is willing to entertain additional revenues as part of a plan to cut the nation’s deficit, but he declined to provide specifics.

“I do think there’s room for revenues” to be considered, the Ohio Republican said, “but there is clearly a limit to the revenues that may be available.”

Republicans have been steadfast in demanding that only spending cuts be used to narrow the nation’s projected budget deficit. A bipartisan supercommittee is required to identify $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade but is bogged down over whether to include revenue increases as part of the equation.

Boehner, in behind-the-scenes negotiations with President Obama this summer, reportedly agreed to consider $800 billion in revenue increases as part of a $4 trillion comprehensive plan that included changes to Medicare and Social Security. Those talks faltered.

Last week, Democrats on the debt panel offered to reduce Medicare spending, in exchange for new tax revenues of up to $1.3 trillion. Republicans promptly rejected the idea. Republicans had countered with their own plan – without raising taxes – but was in turn rejected by Democratic leaders.

Boehner, in a roundtable with reporters today, said he would “respect the work” of the debt-slashing supercommittee, adding that “it would be unfair” not do so.

The panel, which includes Senator John Kerry, has until Nov. 23 to present a deficit-cutting plan to Congress amid growing anxiety that the rifts within the committee might be too wide.

Boehner said that it was important for the bipartisan 12-member panel to succeed in trimming at least $1.2 trillion from the nation’s deficit. But he stopped short of saying whether any plan coming from the supercommittee would receive an automatic stamp of approval.

Democrats must be willing to put Medicare and other expensive entitlement programs on the table, he said. “Without real reform on the entitlement side, how do you put revenues on the table?”

Boehner declined to get into specifics about what revenues he would be willing to allow, nor did he cite specific cuts.

If the debt committee does not reach a deal palatable to the rest of Congress, automatic cuts will be triggered in 2013 in spending for defense and domestic programs.

Earlier this week, the panel was urged by members of a now-disbanded bipartisan presidential debt commission to make deeper cuts than the $1.2 trillion threshold, or the country would again find itself in the same predicament. That could cause the public and the international community, amid global economic upheaval, to lose faith in Washington’s ability to lead and solve the country’s problems, the panel was told.

Another Coal Ash Spill

2011-11-02T19:35:00.008-04:00

You won't hear about the Destructionist Environmental Policies being perpetrated by the Republican controlled House of Representatives on MSM.

As our Democracy has been bought and sold by Dirty Energy and others, the risk to our drinking water and our environment escalates.

Don't breathe a sigh of relief that you're protected from Coal Ash Spills. There is no protection in Massachusetts!

Check out the photo collage, reminiscent of the TVA spill in Harriman, Tennesee. Pretty disgraceful - and totally avoidable if the right policies were in place to protect water supplies.

Coal Ash Spills in Lake Michigan
—By Kate Sheppard

Check out this photo that Mark Hoffman of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal snapped on Monday of a dam collapse at a coal ash pond:

Check out these images: LINK

The Journal Sentinel reports that a large section of a bluff used to contain coal ash at the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant broke on Monday, dumping ash and dirt into Lake Michigan. As you can see in the photo, a truck and some heavy machinery were also pushed into the lake. One of the first responders in the area noted that the debris "stretched 120 yards long and 50 to 80 yards wide at the bottom." A spokesman for the company told the paper that the dam probably did contain coal ash, but said that they'd stopped dumping it there "several decades ago."

The spill calls to mind the catastrophic dam break at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Fossil Plant in Harriman, Tennessee, back in December 2008. That spill dumped 1.1 billion gallons of coal slurry, and prompted the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider how coal waste is handled. Although the EPA was on course to reclassify coal leavings as "hazardous waste" that needed special handling, that rule has been stuck in bureaucratic wrangling for more than two years. So for now, it's still perfectly legal to store coal ash waste in retention ponds that are likely not lined or particularly well maintained.

Another coal ash spill—this time in Lake Michigan
How many more coal ash spills need to happen before Americans are protected by coal ash safeguards? The latest happened Monday in Oak Creek, Wis., at the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant.

And since the TVA disaster, the industry has been lobbying hard to block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from establishing new protections, arguing that states are doing a fine job regulating coal ash. As a result, communities across the nation remain at risk and unprotected.

Just two weeks ago the industry successfully lobbied the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill stripping the EPA of the authority to protect Americans from coal ash.

Monday's collapse on Lake Michigan is particularly troublesome because We Energies has known for years that its management of coal ash at this facility was a threat to human health. Indeed, they have been providing bottled water to neighbors whose wells have been contaminated.

New Lake Michigan Coal Ash Spill Raises Old Concerns

On Monday, a bluff surrounding a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based power plant collapsed, sending a cascade of debris and coal ash waste from the power plant into Lake Michigan. No injuries were reported by We Energies, the company who owns the power plant, but the environmental assessment will likely be less optimistic. We Energies, a subsidiary of Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE: WEC), has confirmed that the debris that made it into the river likely contained coal ash.

As of Monday afternoon, a “fuel sheen” appeared on the surface of Lake Michigan as a result of the bluff collapse. Cleanup crews from Clean Harbor were contracted by We Energies to help contain the spread of the sheen, and will be deploying about 1,500 feet of boom to help contain the waste on the surface. Shortly after the accident, residents living up to a mile away from the site along the lake were already reporting debris washing onshore.

As we have reported extensively in the past, coal ash contains countless toxic substances, including mercury, hexavalent chromium, arsenic, and cadmium. It has also been reported to be more radioactive as nuclear waste. In spite of these findings, the EPA has yet to issue any firm stance on whether or not coal ash will be regulated as a “toxic waste,” partly due to the fact that the coal industry has unleashed a cadre of lobbyists to Washington to fight to protect their coal ash interests.

The EPA’s delay in issuing a ruling on coal ash has allowed the Republican-controlled Congress to gain the upper hand on the issue. In early fall 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would prohibit the EPA from regulating coal ash, and preventing them from classifying the substance as “hazardous.” Instead of EPA regulations, the bill would allow states to issue their own standards on coal ash and prevent any federal standards.

The House legislation was put forward by Republican West Virginia Congressman David McKinley, who has received more than $275,000 from the mining industry during his four years in Congress, making them his highest single donor industry, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

McKinley said that the regulation from the EPA would result in a loss of jobs in the coal industry, yet estimates show that the EPA’s standards would actually create as many as 28,000 new jobs in America.

Less than a week after the House bill passed, the U.S. Senate took up similar legislation sponsored by Republican North Dakota Senators John Hoeven ($147,000 in campaign contributions from the mining industry) and Kent Conrad ($827,000 in campaign contributions from the energy sector.)

Two Democratic Senators, Joe Manchin and Jay Rockefeller from West Virginia also signed on as co-sponsors of the bill. Manchin has received $367,000 from mining interests throughout his career, and Rockefeller has received $288,000 from mining companies.

The Senate bill would enact the same measures as the House bill, although the Democratic majority in the Senate is unlikely to pass the bill, or even bring it to a vote, and President Obama has vowed to veto the bill.

The new spill in Milwaukee could change the tone in Washington regarding the regulation of coal ash, but that will remain to be seen. After all, a disastrous incident in Tennessee nearly three years ago – where 1.7 million cubic yards of coal ash spilled into the environment – hasn’t changed the direction of coal ash legislation.

Middleborough High School Talent Show

2011-10-30T17:44:00.001-04:00

"Talking to the Moon", Bruno Mars Oct. 28, 2011 Holly Colombo on piano, Jordan McClure singing.

Occupy Movement

2011-10-30T13:59:00.003-04:00

From Occupy Denver:

From Occupy Oakland:

A Statement from Mayor Angel Taveras on Occupy Providence

2011-10-30T13:52:00.002-04:00

Contrast the Public Response from Mayor Taveras to other places, including the disgraceful treatment in Boston and former Mayor Ray Flynn's comments.

Mayor Taveras is to be applauded for his comments and allowing the rule of law to prevail.

A Statement from Mayor Angel Taveras on Occupy Providence
Saturday, October 29, 2011
All citizens have a right to have their voices heard, and I, like the Occupy movement, am concerned about the causes and impacts of the most serious economic downturn in decades. This movement is important because our city, our state, our nation need to do much more to address the jobs and foreclosure crises which are crushing hope and opportunity for the 99% of us.

Here in Providence, the protesters who have camped in Burnside Park since October 15 have conducted themselves peacefully, and the city has had ongoing and respectful dialogue with the group. I commend Occupy Providence for its commitment to nonviolence, and I thank Occupy Providence for publicly recognizing the city’s efforts to ensure their right to assemble and demonstrate.

Unlike many other American cities, Providence is taking a nonviolent approach to the occupation of Burnside Park that has resulted in no arrests and the continued freedom to protest with the full support and cooperation of public safety.

The Commissioner has regularly met with protest organizers and sought open and honest communication about all public safety issues. He has waived multiple requirements and accommodated every public protest and march to date.

However, permanent occupation of the park is unsafe and unwise for compelling reasons both practical and legal. Emergency medical personnel have responded to instances involving drug overdose and fighting. Public safety officials have identified Level 3 sex offenders among those occupying the park. As the weather gets colder, Occupy protesters in other cities have been taken to the hospital with hypothermia.

Yet, Commissioner Pare and I have not taken police action. Instead, in the near future, we will petition the Courts for a ruling on the viability and constitutionality of this encampment. This will allow the protesters to have their day in Court and for a full public, legal vetting of the issues.

Accordingly, we have issued a notice asking the protestors to vacate Burnside Park by Sunday, October 30. We have made clear that protestors are welcome to return to the park everyday during park hours of 7 am to 9 pm. If protestors do not vacate Burnside Park on Sunday, the City will NOT follow the actions of other cities like Atlanta, Chicago or Oakland that have resulted in arrests and violence. Instead, the Courts will consider the merits of this issue over the next few weeks.

The City agrees with the ACLU, which has said that United States Supreme Court precedent "significantly limits" the right to camp out indefinitely in Burnside Park without a permit. In addition, like the ACLU, the city "fully supports the right of Occupy Providence to engage in other forms of peaceful protest at the park or elsewhere in the city."

I appreciate and share many of the global concerns that the Occupy movement seeks to address. And it is for this reason that I have used civil, nonviolent means to address the future of the encampment.

Together, as one Providence, we can make real progress towards our shared vision for a more just and equitable society: strengthening our schools, creating good jobs, developing safe and affordable housing and leading an open and transparent government.

Meet the 0.01 Percent: War Profiteers

2011-10-30T11:43:00.004-04:00

Help give your local Occupy group the tools they need to fight corporate power by sharing our new video with them and posting it on your social networks: http://warcosts.com/1percent

War industry CEOs make tens of millions of dollars a year, putting them in the top 0.01 percent of income earners in the U.S.

•
Northrop Grumman CEO Wes Bush made $22.84 million last year.
•
Lockheed Martin CEO Robert Stevens made $21.89 million.
•
Boeing CEO James McNerney: $19.4 million.

These guys use their corporations' massive lobbying dollars to keep their job-killing gravy train rolling. Last year, their companies spent a whopping $46 million on lobbying, corrupting our politics and ensuring that their bank accounts continue to fatten at our expense. These executives are some of the main reasons why we're wasting so much on war instead of rebuilding our own nation here at home.
Help us fight their propaganda campaign to protect their profits. Use our list to share this video with your local Occupy group and encourage them to show it at their events: http://warcosts.com/1percent

CORRECTION: Lockheed Martin's CEO is Robert Stevens. The video refers to him as "Martin Stevens" which is incorrect.

American Banking and Mexican Drug Cartels

2011-10-27T21:52:00.004-04:00

As streets of American cities are flooding with cheap illegal drugs, local resources stressed fighting those related crimes, this offers an interesting insight --

Drug War Profiteers: Book Exposes How Wachovia Bank Laundered Millions for Mexican Cartels

As protests continue against Wall Street and the nation’s biggest banks, we speak to British journalist Ed Vulliamy, author of "Amexica: War Along the Borderline." Vulliamy exposes how one bank, Wachovia, made millions in the Mexican drug war. At the time, Wachovia was the nation’s fourth-largest bank. It has since been taken over by Wells Fargo. "You can’t drive around Mexico with hundreds of billions of dollars in cash in a semi-artic truck. It has to be banked," Vulliamy said. "What I found was that it is coming into the United States, into the banking system." [includes rush transcript]

AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to Mexico, where drug-related violence has surged since President Felipe Calderón sent in the army to fight the cartels when he took office December 2006. The New York Times reported this week U.S. law enforcement agencies have secretly built up networks of Mexican informants that have allowed them to secretly infiltrate some of that country’s most powerful criminal organizations. Typically, Mexico is kept in the dark about the U.S. actions inside Mexico with its most secret informants. The U.S. informants have reportedly helped Mexican authorities capture or kill about two dozen high-ranking and mid-level drug traffickers. In addition, the informants have sometimes given U.S. counter-narcotics agents access to the top leaders of the cartels they’re trying to dismantle.

For more about U.S. involvement in the drug wars in Mexico, we’re joined by Ed Vulliamy, author of Amexica: War Along the Borderline. He’s a writer for The Guardian and The Observer in Britain, and headed back there this week.

Ed, it’s good to have you with us.

ED VULLIAMY: Good morning, Amy. Thank you.

AMY GOODMAN: We only have a few minutes.

ED VULLIAMY: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: So lay out what you have found since the hardcover has come out, and now you’ve released the paperback, Amexica.

ED VULLIAMY: Well, you get a second bite with the paperback. And the original book was a report from the ground, from the rehab clinics, from the streets of Tamaulipas, Juárez and so on. But, you know, the burning question across the board was: what happens to the money? You can’t drive around Mexico with hundreds of billions of dollars in cash in a semi-artic truck. It has to be banked. And what I found was that it is coming into the United States, into the banking system. Now, we have to be careful here, legally. I mean, Wachovia is the bank concerned in this instance. It is in the clear, because there was a deferred prosecution in March. They were clear.

AMY GOODMAN: Explain what you mean. What was Wachovia’s involvement?

ED VULLIAMY: OK, what happened was various signals, various red flags went up regarding inconsistencies. My contact—they were coming through London, traveler’s checks, serially numbered, strangely signed, coming through, and irregularities spotted. And my contact’s name is Woods, put up the alarm. Rather than be sort of thanked for his vigilance, he was basically sort of told to shut up, originally, and then spat out, frankly.

There was a prosecution. There was a settlement in the district court of Miami. And the settlement said—and it was a deferred prosecution, which means no one goes to jail, constructively, and you have to sort of behave for a year, and if you do so, the whole thing is dropped. And we have to say, it has been dropped. Wachovia has since been bought by Wells Fargo, who have cooperated with the investigation. It’s nothing against Wells Fargo.

But what was found was that $110 million—small change—was directly connected to four drug deals in Mexico involving the Sinaloa Cartel, but that the staggering figure of $378 billion—that’s a lot of money—was insufficiently monitored. Now, we don’t know how much of that was connected to drug deals. It could be anything between naught and $378 billion. But it gives us a glimpse of the size, of the volume, the quantity of the money involved. These were coming through things called casas de cambio, holes in the wall, basically, exchange houses, not even a proper banking system. So we have a medium-sized bank, that kind of money.

Then, I thought, well, let’s set this in context. Talked to a man called Antonio Maria Costa, who’s the head of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna. He’s not there any longer. He posits that the volumes of money coming in from Mexico, from—and obviously his speciality was Europe, Russia, you know, similar operations—laundering of vast quantities of the profits of drugs and, of course, the calamitous violence that is the scourge of Mexico, is basically propping up the banking system. It is a major pillar of the banking system. Without it, it would have collapsed long ago. Well, we know that the other pillar propping it up is tax dollars.

But—and so, one has a sort of a glimpse through this case, through this afterword in this paperback edition, a glimpse of where all the money goes, you know, how—you know, we hear a lot about how the Mexican war, this catastrophe in Mexico, is crossing the border into the United States, and indeed how it isn’t crossing the border. But one way in which it sure as hell is crossing the border is hundreds of billions of dollars of blood money.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to leave it there, but we’re going to do a post-show interview, and we’re going to post it online at democracynow.org. We’ve been speaking with Ed Vulliamy. He is a writer for The Guardian and The Observer, headed back to London. His book is called Amexica: War Along the Borderline, and he’s written the cover story of Harper’s, which we’re going to talk about post-show, which is called "Broken Britain."

Oakland!

2011-10-27T21:37:00.004-04:00

When I attempted to send a FAX to the Oakland Mayor to protest the police brutality in the treatment of peaceful protesters, the FAX machine reported only out of service.

The Mayor of Oakland seems to have experienced an epiphany of sorts.

Pathetic that it required an outpouring of public condemnation nationwide.

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan's About-Face

"Oakland Mayor Jean Quan's rather remarkable statement below marks a watershed for the burgeoning American Occupy movements.

Cast against the backdrop of Wednesday's fully-militarized Oakland city center, Quan's effusively conciliatory remarks can only be interpreted as an admission that turning downtown Oakland into a war zone to roll up a tent-city encampment did not work.

It should be noted that adherence to non-violent discipline on the part of the Occupy Oakland organizers and all the protesters that participated throughout the day was a critically important factor in forcing the City of Oakland's hand.

Brute-force police oppression of the Occupy movement has taken its best shot. It is possible that non-violent resistance has prevailed. -- Marc Ash/RSN

Statement by Oakland, California, Mayor Jean Quan on Wednesday's police action against Occupy Oakland protesters:

We support the goals of the Occupy Wall Street movement: we have high levels of unemployment and we have high levels of foreclosure that makes Oakland part of the 99% too. We are a progressive city and tolerant of many opinions. We may not always agree, but we all have a right to be heard.

I want to thank everyone for the peaceful demonstration at Frank Ogawa Park tonight, and thank the city employees who worked hard to clean up the plaza so that all activities can continue including Occupy Wall Street. We have decided to have a minimal police presence at the plaza for the short term and build a community effort to improve communications and dialogue with the demonstrators.

99% of our officers stayed professional during difficult and dangerous circumstances as did some of the demonstrators who dissuaded other protestors from vandalizing downtown and for helping to keep the demonstrations peaceful. For the most part, demonstrations over the past two weeks have been peaceful. We hope they continue to be so.

I want to express our deepest concern for all of those who were injured last night, and we are committed to ensuring this does not happen again. Investigations of certain incidents are underway and I will personally monitor them.

We understand and recognize the impact this event has had on the community and acknowledge what has happened. We cannot change the past, but we are committed to doing better.

Most of us are part of the 99%, and understand the spirit of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. We are committed to honoring their free speech right.

Finally, we understand the demonstrators want to meet with me and Chief Jordan. We welcome open dialogue with representatives of Occupy Wall Street members, and we are willing to meet with them as soon as possible.

Iraq War Vet Hospitalized with Fractured Skull After Being Shot by Police at Occupy Oakland Protest

Thousands of people reclaimed the Occupy Oakland encampment in front of City Hall Wednesday after police dispersed them twice on Tuesday — first in a pre-dawn raid on the camp and 12 hours later at night when protesters attempted to retake the park — using beanbag projectiles and tear gas. Many protesters expressed outrage over of the injury of Oakland protester Scott Olsen, a 24-year-old Iraq War veteran whose skull was fractured by a projectile fired by police Tuesday night. He is hospitalized in critical condition and is reportedly under sedation by doctors monitoring his injury. We speak to Jesse Palmer, an Occupy Oakland protester who helped move Olsen to safety, and to Aaron Hinde, a close friend of Scott Olsen and a fellow member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. One of Olsen’s other friends, Adele Carpenter, told Reuters, "The irony is not lost on anyone here that this is someone who survived two tours in Iraq and is now seriously injured by the Oakland police force." Aaron Hinde talked about why Olsen joined the Occupy Oakland movement: "He was a very motivated and dedicated individual. And he believed in the Occupy movement, because it’s very obvious what’s happening in this country, especially as veterans. We’ve had our eyes opened by serving and going to war overseas." [includes rush transcript]

AMY GOODMAN: As we broadcast, protesters with the Occupy San Francisco encampment are preparing for possible eviction by police, but reports just now coming in say police may have called off their raid.

Meanwhile, across the Bay last night, thousands of people reclaimed the Occupy Oakland encampment in front of City Hall after police dispersed them Tuesday night using bean bag projectiles and tear gas. At last night’s general assembly, the Occupy Oakland encampment voted almost unanimously to call for a general strike on November 2nd, saying, quote, "Instead of workers going to work and students going to school, the people will converge on downtown Oakland to shut down the city. All banks and corporations should close down for the day or we will march on them," the statement said.

Also in Oakland, an independent police review body will examine the clashes between riot police and protesters Tuesday that left an Iraq war veteran in critical condition. Scott Olsen is a 24-year-old Iraq war vet. He was struck in the head by a police projectile. Video footage posted to YouTube shows a man identified as Scott Olsen lying motionless and unresponsive in front of a police line after apparently having been hit by a tear gas canister. Several protesters gather around him, but a police officer can be seen throwing a device close to the group which then explodes with a bright flash and loud bang, dispersing the protesters. The video then cuts to footage of protesters carrying Olsen away as blood streams down his face.

A spokesperson for Highland Hospital in East Oakland has confirmed that Scott Olsen remains in critical condition. He suffered from a fractured skull and brain swelling. One of Olsen’s friends, Adele Carpenter, told Reuters, "The irony is not lost on anyone here that this is someone who survived two tours in Iraq and is now seriously injured by the Oakland police force." Olsen served in Iraq from 2006 to 2010 with the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment.

Acting Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan told a news conference his department is investigating the injury to Olsen as a "level one" incident, the highest level for an internal police inquiry. He declined to confirm whether Olsen was struck with a projectile fired by police.

Well, for more on what happened to Iraq war veteran, to Marine Corporal Scott Olsen, and the broader role that veterans play in the Occupy movement across the country, we’re joined by two guests in Berkeley, California. Aaron Hinde is a close friend of Scott Olsen, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, as Scott was. He has slept at Occupy San Francisco for several nights. We’re also joined by Jesse Palmer, who participated in Occupy Oakland since its inception. He helped carry Scott to safety after the police projectile hit Olsen in the head. Aaron Hinde, Jesse Palmer are joining us from the studios of the University of California, Berkeley School of Journalism.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! I want to begin with Jesse, because you were on the scene on Tuesday night. Can you describe what time it was that Scott was hit and exactly what happened when you came upon him?

JESSE PALMER: Well, it was about 7:45. People had marched at 5:00, and by the point that the first tear gas and concussion grenades were used, people had been marching for over two hours. At the time, there was a large group of people standing at 14th and Broadway, which is the intersection right in downtown Oakland closest to Oscar Grant Plaza. The police had given an order to disperse, but there was no aggressive behavior towards the police. It was basically just a standoff. People were standing around.

All of a sudden, you know, in just an instant, with no real warning, concussion grenades went off and tear gas canisters went off all around us. I was right in the middle of the intersection, and it was very shocking, because you just heard the explosions in every direction all around you. Most of the crowd I was with proceeded north on Broadway, but people went in every direction. The other two intersections, people left.

At that time, I didn’t see that Scott had been struck. And in fact the tear gas makes it very hard for you to see. You can’t see. So people fell back about a half a block down Broadway, then somebody said that somebody had been hurt. And so, a number of people ran back up into the tear gas. And he was lying on the sidewalk, and there were a couple of medics already with him, and they said, "We need to get him farther out," because it was very very unsafe at that location. And so, we picked him up, and we carried him about a block, around the corner from where they could safely work on him.

AMY GOODMAN: What exactly was his condition as you tried, with others, to carry him?

JESSE PALMER: So, we picked him up, and my initial—I told him, "You’re going to be OK. My name’s Jesse. Can you tell me your name?" because I knew it was a terrifying situation, and I wanted to comfort him. But he didn’t respond at all. His eyes were open. He just stared blankly. And that was when I realized. You know, there was blood coming out of—it was a little hard to say, but his eyes, his mouth, his nose, there was a lot of blood on his face. And it was a terrifying, you know, moment. I mean, he was alive, and we didn’t know how badly he was hurt. And he didn’t speak back to me. And I tried a few times, because I thought, "Oh, he’ll be able to speak back." And he never spoke. We got him around the sidewalk, and then there were—the medics said they were EMTs, and they had experience. So that was when I left. But he—yeah, he was seriously hurt.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to play the videotape that has been posted to YouTube. There were two different ones. One is the first, when you all got him, and it shows Scott’s bloody face as you were carrying him away. And then we’ll play the other, where people went to try to get him, and the flashbang grenade was—hit right at the area where he was lying. Let’s go to the first, where you got him.

PROTESTER 1: Medic!

PROTESTER 2: We need a medic! Medic! Medic!

PROTESTER 3: What happened? What happened?

PROTESTER 2: He got [bleep] shot!

PROTESTER 3: What’s your name? What’s your name?

PROTESTER 2: What’s your name?

PROTESTER 4: Dude, wake up!

PROTESTER 3: What’s your name?

PROTESTER 4: What’s your name?

PROTESTER 5: Can you say anything?

PROTESTER 3: Medic!

PROTESTERS: Medic!

PROTESTER 3: Whoa! [bleep]! Hey, back up! Back up! Back up!

AMY GOODMAN: And for our radio listeners, of course, you can see this on television, but as you could see just how it—how it sounds, exactly as it looks. And that is, a war zone. The other video is Scott lying on the ground, not yet taken by all of you, the video we just had. And this is when people ran up—we’re going to play it as I speak—ran up to try to help him.

PROTESTER: Help him! Help him!

AMY GOODMAN: So, Jesse Palmer, what do you understand at this point was the projectile that was used that first hit Scott, and this flashbang grenade, when people came to try to pick him up?

JESSE PALMER: I mean, it’s—there’s no way I can really say precisely what happened. There were tear gas projectiles that were shot in and fell all around us. The flashbang grenades were thrown, and they went off, again, all around us. And meanwhile, you can also hear on the video that they’re shooting some kind of—you know, some kind of other thing, what they were calling them bean bag rounds. Some people were calling them rubber bullets. But those were ricocheting and flying through the air all at once.

And, in fact, you know, just to correct you, he actually got carried twice. There was the initial group that carried him from right in front of the police barricade, which is where he was standing, just down the street a little bit. But then, for whatever reason, they weren’t able to carry him all the way to safety. And I think the reason is, is because there was so much tear gas and so much—so many projectiles flying through the air. So, I first became aware of him—he had been carried away from the barricade, but not all the way to safety. He was still close to the police. And that was when we ran back up near the police and took—carried him again. So the first video is of his first carrying, but then he was put down, and then we carried him again to a safer location around the block. It was a very chaotic situation.

AMY GOODMAN: Aaron Hinde, tell us who Scott is. Who is your friend Scott Olsen? You, both, members of IVAW, the Iraq Veterans Against the War.

AARON HINDE: Scott came to San Francisco about three months ago from Wisconsin, where he actually participated in the holding of the State Capitol over there. Scott’s probably one of the most warmest, kindest guys I know. He’s just one of those people who always has a smile on his face and never has anything negative to say. Like Adele said, it’s very ironic that he was the one to be critically injured, not just because of his status as a veteran, but just because of the nature of him. He was a very nice guy. He was not aggressive. He was not angry at all.

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about his moving from Madison to the Bay Area and why he was participating in Occupy Oakland. You were not there at the time, is that right? You were at Occupy San Francisco?

AARON HINDE: Right, I was at Occupy San Francisco, and around 8:00 or so, some woman was reading off a couple of tweets off of the Twitter feed and said that there was an Iraq veteran who had been injured. I immediately called some people over there and found out that it was a long-haired Iraq veteran, and I knew immediately that it was Scott. So I started calling hospitals, found out where he was, and immediately drove over there and called over other members of our organization to the hospital for support.

Scott came, like I said, three months ago, and he got a great job with his friend Keith, who he also served with, in the IT. He worked during the day and slept in San Francisco by night. He was a very motivated and dedicated individual. And he believed in the Occupy movement, because it’s very obvious what’s happening in this country, especially as veterans. We’ve had our eyes opened by serving and going to war overseas. So, there’s a small contingency of us out here, and we’re all very motivated and dedicated. And we’re all hoping for the best for a full and swift recovery for Scott.

AMY GOODMAN: Aaron, can you describe—there’s a vigil outside of the hospital, as Scott lies inside the hospital. Now, the hospital put him into a coma, is that right? To reduce the brain swelling.

AARON HINDE: Right. The hospital has kept him intubated and drugged up, so that he doesn’t regain consciousness. I was able to see him for a while yesterday, until the nurses finally kicked everyone but his roommate out and stopped communicating with us. I’m guessing that has something to do with the ongoing police investigation in the matter. As far as the vigil outside the hospital, I haven’t been back there since about 4:00 yesterday. So, I will definitely be attending that today. Also at 7:00—

AMY GOODMAN: His family is flying in today?

AARON HINDE: I believe his family is trying to get here as quickly as possible. I haven’t talked with Keith yet to see when exactly they’re coming in. But, yes, his family is on the way.

AMY GOODMAN: And you said, "At 7:00"?

AARON HINDE: At 7:00, we’re planning on holding another vigil outside of City Hall, after the general assembly of Occupy Oakland. Everyone’s invited. This is really something that needs to be highlighted, what police brutality can do to a citizen populace and exactly who is comprised of this Occupy movement.

AMY GOODMAN: A general strike is being called for November 2nd, is that right?

JESSE PALMER: That’s correct. I was at the general assembly last night, which was the biggest that we’ve had yet. And it’s a modified consensus decision making, which requires a 90 percent vote of the participants in order to approve a proposal. And this proposal came up, was discussed for over two hours. And then the vote, with 1,600 votes counted, was 1,484 for, 77 abstained, 46 against. There was an overwhelming feeling that we needed to take it to the next level. And Oakland has—you know, there was a general strike in Oakland in 1946 that everybody is aware of as a precedent. I think we feel that this struggle is moving in—you know, the occupation of Oakland was incredibly powerful and educational, and the level of dialogue was amazing, for everybody involved, but I think we all feel like it’s time to take the struggle to the next level, so that everyone can participate in Oakland and around the country. And not everybody is going to come down to a tent city, so we feel that a general strike is the next way to go.

AMY GOODMAN: And you retook what’s being called now Oscar Grant Plaza, for the young man who was killed by the BART police two years ago. You retook that encampment that the police evacuated you from two nights ago?

JESSE PALMER: There was—when we arrived yesterday for the general assembly, because what was scheduled last night was our general assembly that we’ve had every night since the occupation began. There was a fence around the grassy area where the tents had stood. The general assembly didn’t make a decision to remove the fence, but the fence was removed. And as of when I left, yeah, it had been retaken. I don’t know what’s happened since midnight.

AMY GOODMAN: And finally, Aaron Hinde, if you could talk about the level of participation of Iraq and Afghanistan war vets? I just came from Louisville, Kentucky, and there were several vets there. I was in Kansas City before that, same thing. Talk about what you’re seeing as a vet yourself.

AARON HINDE: As a veteran or as an active-duty servicemember, you swear an oath to uphold and protect your country, and that is carried with you, even if you go out of the military, that sense of responsibility. And because of that vigilance, it seems veterans are always on the cusp of these types of social, progressive actions that are going on. I know that our organization, Veterans for Peace and other veteran organizations are highly active in the Occupy movement. We, for the most part, agree with all the principles and are trying to support it however we can, and participate, as well.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you both for being with us. Of course, we’ll continue to follow this story and report on Scott Olsen’s condition, now unconscious in the Oakland hospital, friends holding a vigil outside, his family flying in today. Aaron Hinde, friend of Scott Olsen, member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Jesse Palmer, who participated in Occupy Oakland and helped to carry Scott Olsen to safety after the police projectile hit Olsen in the head.

This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. When we come back, the Occupy movement in the United States to Tahrir Square. We’ll be joined by two Egyptian activists, leaders in the Egyptian revolution, who’ve come to this country and spoke at Occupy Wall Street. Stay with us.

Occupy

2011-10-26T19:25:00.004-04:00

As the U.S. promotes Democracy around the world, the shocking truth is sadly revealed around the country.

This has been such a disgusting display of police brutality against peaceful protesters broadcast around the world, shouldn't we be embarrassed by our own hypocrisy?

LIVE COVERAGE

A Witness to the Violence in Oakland
Photos and Story By Marc Ash, Reader Supported News

Police Brutality Charges Sweep Across the US [go to original for links]
By Paul Harris, Guardian UK

From Naomi Wolf's arrest in New York to shootings in Tucson and Florida, forces face allegations of abuse of power.

fficer Michael Daragjati had no idea that the FBI was listening to his phone calls. Otherwise he would probably not have described his arrest and detention of an innocent black New Yorker in the manner he did.

Daragjati boasted to a woman friend that, while on patrol in Staten Island, he had "fried another nigger". It was "no big deal", he added. The FBI, which had been investigating another matter, then tried to work out what had happened.

According to court documents released in New York, Daragjati and his partner had randomly stopped and frisked a black man who had become angry and asked for Daragjati's name and badge number. Daragjati, 32, and with eight years on the force, had no reason to stop the man, and had found nothing illegal. But he arrested him and fabricated an account of him resisting arrest. The man, now referred to in papers only as John Doe because of fears for his safety, spent two nights in jail. He had merely been walking alone through the neighbourhood.

The shocking story has added to a growing sense that there are serious problems of indiscipline and law-breaking in US police forces. Last week the feminist author Naomi Wolf was arrested outside an awards ceremony in Manhattan. She had been advising Occupy Wall Street protesters of their rights to continue demonstrating outside the event. Instead, as she joined the protest, she was carted off to jail in her evening gown. That incident is only the most high-profile of many apparently illegal police actions around the protests. One senior officer, deputy inspector Anthony Bologna, created headlines worldwide when he pepper-sprayed young women behind a police barricade.

A report from the New York Civil Liberties Union recently looked at police use of Taser stun guns in the state, and revealed that in 60% of incidents where they were used, the incident did not meet the recommended criteria for such a weapon. Some cases involved people already handcuffed and 40% involved "at risk" subjects such as children, the elderly or mentally ill. "This disturbing pattern of misuse and abuse endangers lives," said the NYCLU's executive director, Donna Lieberman.

In Los Angeles, officers in the sheriff's department are accused of physically abusing some prison inmates and having sex with others. An internal report, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, revealed allegations that included beating people visiting relatives in jail. In Pittsburgh, there is the case of Jordan Miles, a high-flying high-school student stopped by three plainclothes policemen. Miles, 18 at the time, was walking to his grandmother's house and had no idea who the men were, as they did not identify themselves. He ran, but the officers caught him and beat him so badly that he ended up in hospital. He is undergoing neurological treatment for memory problems and has had to drop out of college.

Yet it was Miles who was charged with aggravated assault – a case that a judge later threw out. His mother, Terez Miles, said: "We are no strangers to police brutality in the city of Pittsburgh, but what they did was terrible and then they lied about it."

In Chicago, Jimmel Cannon, 13, was shot eight times by police who claimed that he had a BB gun in his hand. His family said that he had his hands in the air. In Tucson, Arizona, former marine Jose Guerena was killed by a Swat team on a drugs raid. They found nothing illegal, but Guerena was shot 23 times.

The list goes on. Miami is still dealing with the fallout of the fatal shooting of Raymond Herisse. He had been driving a car out of which police claimed gunshots came. However, it took three days before they produced a weapon. They also confiscated and destroyed the phones of people trying to record the incident.

"There is a widespread, continuing pattern of officers ordering people to stop taking photographs or video in public places, and harassing, detaining and arresting those who fail to comply," said Chris Calabrese, of the American Civil Liberties Union. Campaigners say the spread of camera phones is why so many incidents of brutality are appearing.

In another recorded call, Daragjati complained to a friend: "I could throw somebody a beating, they catch me on camera, and I'm fired." Some activists have taken that to heart. Diop Kamau, a former officer, runs the Florida-based Police Complaint Center, which investigates allegations of police abuse nationwide. "Police are now facing an onslaught of scrutiny because everyone has a cellphone," he said.

Kamau said that many police departments still had a culture of secrecy and many officers believed that there was little likelihood of punishment even if caught. "The police fill in the blanks. They say what happened and they will be believed," he said.

One weakness is that there is no central organisation for the police, and local departments do not release data on complaints or allegations of abuse. "The problem is that there is an absence of research," said Professor John Liederbach, an expert in American policing at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. As the list of complaints and incidents grows, that might be about to change.

NYPD Undercover Create Disturbance

2011-10-20T13:33:00.003-04:00

On a pathetic note:

The Loudest Person at The Citibank Was the Undercover Cop that Arrested the Woman Outside

You should remember this incident where people trying to close their accounts with Citibank were locked in and arrested [click on link to view video]

But did you know from witness reports inside the bank the loudest person there was the undercover cop that later came out and arrested that woman?

Well, this is sort of a scary story: Marshall Garrett, one of the protesters who was arrested during Saturday’s Occupy Wall Street march for trying to hold a General Assembly in Citibank, told the Village Voice what went down that day. Apparently a plainclothed cop had been very well informed of the situation ahead of time and hidden himself in the crowd.
Here’s what Mr. Garrett told the paper:
But what was unknown to us and to a lot of people that day, including those in Times Square, was that there were undercover cops already there, paid to be disruptive and to be loud. One undercover cop present [at Citi] was louder than the entire group.

How did you know he was an undercover cop?

He arrested one of the protestors outside, and slammed her into the wall, and pushed her back into the bank. We all saw him at the precinct with us. He was laughing with the fellow white shirt cops, telling them about what we’d been saying, basically. It was a bit startling how inside their information was – how they were being paid to go to these protests and put us in situations where we’d be arrested and not be able to leave.

So let me clarify this:

Protesters decide to protest by closing their accounts en masse.

Group is infiltrated by undercover cops.

Undercover cops create disturbance in bank.

Bank manager panics calls 911.

Protesters get arrested for creating disruption.

Beacon Hill: ...the odor still lingers.

2011-10-20T08:52:00.004-04:00

OPINION: Redistricting effort tainted from the start

The political tone-deafness of the pair of legislators charged with managing legislative redistricting turns out to be even more severe than we thought.

After defeating efforts to give responsibility for the task to an independent commission, Democratic leaders promised the process would be more fair and transparent than ever before. We assumed they understood that anything that looked like blatant incumbent protection – and other political games that have marred the Legislature’s redistricting efforts in the past – would be a blow to their credibility and avoided at all costs.

But then it came to light that one of the first acts of redistricting co-chairs Rep. Michael Moran, D-Brighton, and Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, was to schedule private meetings with each member of the state’s all-Democratic congressional delegation to hear their preferences on how their districts should be drawn.

That’s exactly the kind of back-room deal-making reformers have been warning about. Beacon Hill politics are traditionally about who has power, not how will the public best be served. Census results require Massachusetts lose one of its 10 House districts. Starting the redistricting process with secret meetings with incumbents reinforces the idea that Moran and Rosenberg are rigging the game and dividing the spoils between fellow Democrats, putting the incumbents first and the voters second.

What’s worse was word that Moran had decided that, since he was going to be in Washington interviewing Congress members about their redistricting preferences, why not have a fundraiser for himself? One of the endangered incumbents, Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Somerville, generously found an exclusive restaurant to host the event, WCVB-TV Channel 5 reported. Other House members would surely be happy to send Washington insiders to help fatten Rep. Moran’s campaign account.

An hour after WCVB called to ask about the fundraiser, Moran canceled it. But the odor still lingers.

Why should a state representative be holding a fundraiser in Washington? Why would he accept help from the Congress members whose fate is in the hands of his committee? Why would someone entrusted by leaders of the Legislature with a sensitive job to do under the eyes of a skeptical public, do anything to give the impression his services are for sale?

This business confirms the suspicion that Moran, Rosenberg – and the leaders of the House and Senate who appointed them – have no clue about what a fair, transparent, non-political redistricting process looks like.

They are insiders playing an insiders’ game, oblivious to how it looks from the outside.

It’s not too late for Moran and Rosenberg to resign. Better yet, they should appoint a blue-ribbon panel of outsiders to take over the information-gathering and map-drawing process, and promise to keep their hands off until the panel presents their committee with one or more recommendations.

Legislative lines redrawn, 12th Plymouth District changes slightly
District currently held by Rep. Calter loses Duxbury, Middleborough precincts, gains Halifax precinct

By Kathryn Koch
Wicked Local Kingston

KINGSTON — Voters in Duxbury and Halifax are among those impacted by the announcement Tuesday that a legislative redistricting plan has been proposed by a joint committee of the General Court.

With redistricting, Rep. Tom Calter, D-Kingston, would represent one precinct each in the towns of Duxbury and Middleborough whereas he used to represent two precincts in those towns. He will also represent all of Halifax whereas he previously represented just one precinct in Halifax.

Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Pembroke, would pick up Precinct 6 in Duxbury, and would no longer represent the second precinct in Halifax. Webster said when he ran for office in 2002 that he was hopeful that he could eventually represent all of Duxbury rather than four precincts.

“Unfortunately, it won’t make Duxbury whole,” he said.

State legislators have to redraw the legislative and congressional district in Massachusetts to reflect population shifts identified through the 2010 Census. The state constitution requires the Legislature revise the map every 10 years.

Calter continues to represent all of Kingston, all of Plympton and three precincts (1, 11 and 13) in Plymouth. Calter said he expects the new districts to be finalized by the end of the year with the required votes of both the House and Senate.

While Calter technically represents constituents over 105 square miles and will represent one precinct each in the towns of Duxbury, Middleborough and, as usual, Plympton, he said he doesn’t turn away people who don’t live in his district but live in a town he helps represent. He accepts an obligation to all residents in a town.

“My new district is more difficult to serve but easier to defend,” he said. “It requires that I attend all of the important events in those towns although I represent only a small portion of them. It’s also a challenge when I receive constituent calls from Duxbury and Middleborough where I now only represent one precinct. I never ask what precinct a caller is in, so I’m often serving constituents in the parts of towns I don’t represent.”

Webster follows the same philosophy. He said he also responds to calls from all residents in the towns of Duxbury, Pembroke and Hanson whether they live in one of his precincts or not. He said he will continue to represent Duxbury the same way.

Calter said once redistricting has been finalized, he looks forward to introducing himself to his new constituents in Halifax.

“I’m excited that Halifax has been unified,” he said. “For a small town they deserve one representative.”

While disappointed that Duxbury has not been unified, Webster said it’s good for the people of Halifax to be represented by one person.

While there had been talk of Calter picking up another precinct in Plymouth, redistricting has not affected the number of precincts he represents in Plymouth. It does impact the Plymouth delegation, however, with a third legislator, from the 5th Barnstable District, representing a precint in South Plymouth because the Cape has been losing residents and Plymouth has been gaining in population.

Calter who represents Plymouth precincts 1, 11 and 13, said he looks forward to working with Rep. Randy Hunt, R-East Sandwich.

“The Senate President, Rep. deMacedo and myself work very closely on issues important to Plymouth,” he said. “We welcome Rep. Hunt to the delegation, and I look forward to working with him on the issues important to Plymouth.”

Murray would lose Plympton and precincts in Barnstable under the Senate redistricting. Plympton would fall within the Second Plymouth & Bristol District, as is Halifax now, represented by Sen. Thomas Kennedy, D-Brockton.

“I applaud Sen. Rosenberg, Rep. Moran and the joint Committee on Redistricting for carrying out a fair and equal redistricting process,” Murray said Wednesday in a statement. “While I will be losing three precincts in Barnstable and the town of Plympton because I am over population in my district, the strong relationships I have formed with both communities will remain. We have accomplished so much, and I am proud to continue to be their voice for the next 14 months.”

The biggest change expected from redistricting is that the state will lose a congressional seat because its population grew slower than the rest of the United States from 2000 to 2010.

The state districts have to be wrapped up first so potential candidates for those seats can meet a one-year residency requirement for the Nov. 4, 2012, election.

Legislature redistricting plan creates new Brockton district
Redistricting plan reflects changing demographics

Remember Minnesota?

2011-10-18T17:29:00.004-04:00

Pawlenty leaves office and the mess behind, much as Mitt Romney did in Massachusetts.

The state shuts down, article here:

Minnesota Shutdown 2011: State Government Shuts Down

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton (D) and top Republican state lawmakers failed to reach a budget deal to avert a government shutdown ahead of a midnight (CST) deadline.

"I really believe I've done everything I possibly could and offered everything I could possibly think of," said Dayton addressing the state of the negotiations from his office on Thursday night. "This is a night of deep sorrow for me because I don't want to see this shutdown occur."

The Democratic governor and state GOP lawmakers had been engaged in contentious talks to close the state's $5 billion budget gap -- much of it left behind by GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty, who declined to seek a third term in the 2010 election.

And now, in an amazing display, the folly of a sports stadium?

Dayton wants Vikings special session by Thanksgiving
Article by: MIKE KASZUBA , Star Tribune

Gov. Mark Dayton said he wants a special session of the Legislature just before Thanksgiving to reach a final verdict on whether the Minnesota Vikings get a new, publicly subsidized stadium.

Raising the stakes on a long-running, divisive issue, the DFL governor gave Minnesota's political, civic and business leaders five weeks to determine where the project should be built, whether voters facing a sales tax increase should have a referendum and how the state's $300 million toward the stadium should be financed. Dayton said the stadium deal could still be a work in progress when legislators begin meeting, a move that could make a special session a politically explosive drama.

"Most of what I hear is what everyone's against. ... It has to be what people are for," said Dayton, after meeting with legislative leaders Monday. He again left open the possibility that the $1.1 billion project could be built in Minneapolis, where the team has played since 1982, rather than Ramsey County's Arden Hills, the Vikings' owners' clear choice for the new home.

What an interesting display of fiscal responsibility!

Redistricting Map

2011-10-18T17:13:00.002-04:00

Not everyone was going to be pleased with the new lines, but Middleboro, you might want to look at this gem:

MAP

LETTER

It was soooo embarrassing....

2011-10-18T11:37:00.005-04:00

who would say anything? Yet .... it's my tax dollars.

It was your tax dollars too.

And it was a public hearing.

In a previous attempt to bring a "Motion to Dismiss," Middleborough Town Counsel Dan Murray was sharply rebuked and told to 'resolve the matter and not return.'

Hmmm.

I didn't attend law school and make no pretense, yet wouldn't you think either an attorney representing the Town or the Middleborough Assessor, Barbara Erikson would be familiar with the laws, policies and practices surrounding an issue?

Attorney Murray's reason for the "Motion to Dismiss" ? The applicant had failed to sign the form [among other things], yet all other requisite information was present.

Thirty lashes with that wet noodle!

The judge was NOT pleased!

An ATB (Appellate Tax Board) Hearing was held Monday, October 17.

It was actually a "Motion to Dismiss" brought by the Town of Middleborough's Attorney, Dan Murray.

Attorney Murray presented arguments including an affidavit prepared by/for the Town Assessor, Barbara Erikson, that indicated applicant had made a comment to a staff member more than a year prior to the Affidavit about the 'form' - which is meaningless gossip.

Who remembers a conversation/passing comment from a year earlier? Frankly, how silly!

(This is the FORM to which Ms. Erikson refers on pages 5 and 6.)

I arrived at the ATB after fighting traffic exactly at 10 AM and couldn't find my case on the schedules posted in front of the court rooms.

So had to go to the office.

The clerk checked, confirmed I was on the schedule, but she made me aware that Atty. Murray had already phoned and said he was running late. (It is incumbent on legal counsel to assure a timely arrival.)

I sat in the courtroom and listened to a Mildford Bar/Restaurant case with the property owner's attorney and the Milford town attorney, Milford Assessor, surrounded by attorneys probably because ComCast was on the schedule.

Attorney Murray finally showed up ~ 1/2 hour late.

I had stepped outside the room to sip water I had brought with me so I wouldn't cough in the dry courtroom and realized when I returned that Attorney Murray was standing and approaching the table in front of the judges.

So, now, a little disorganized, as I re-entered, the clerk who knew I had been there was coming to get me.

I took my seat behind the table and Attorney Murray began his presentation.

Attorney Murray explained to the court that the applicant had filed for an abatement in December, the notice was sent in January to complete the form.

(Now, I'm fuming because Attorney Murray doesn't indicate that there's more than a calendar year in between.)

One of the judges asked 'what form?'

Attorney Murray explained that it was attached to the affidavit [copy on the Assessors' web site, above].

The 2 judges fumble through the papers, find the form and their verbal assault begins.

The judge asks where the form came from, he's never seen this before.

Attorney Murray speculates that the Assessor, Barbara Erikson created the form.

Attorney Murray quotes Ch. 59, Section 61A [below], claims applicant failed to provide information requested.

Now the tone gets more hostile!

The judge tells Attorney Murray what Ch. 59, Section 61A means - frankly, I was so shocked, I can't relate what it means.

But it's not what Attorney Murray thought it meant and not a valid reason to deny/dismiss this case.

Not content to stop digging the hole, Attorney Murray then raises the issue that on the application for abatement with the Town and on the ATB application, the homeowner failed to provide 'an opinion of value.'

Now it's get more heated.

The judge, mighty testy! tells Attorney Murray that the homeowner's opinion is meaningless and he's never had anyone come before him and use that as an argument.

Then the judge, looking at Attorney Murray, tone really harsh, announced "I don't even want to hear from the homeowner! Case dismissed!"

Attorney Murray picked up his stuff mighty quickly and scooted right out.

I'm dallying, trying to figure out how I avoid Attorney Murray for what was really embarrassing - it was embarrassing to me because it was pretty rude though apparently justified by conspicuous legal incompetence recognized by those who have attended law school. It was embarrassing to be connected to a Town that fails to recognize such incompetence.

I turned in my seat to file some papers that I had placed on the table into my bag (which included a lengthy chronology) and the well dressed attorney in an expensive suit behind me, stood and said rather loudly "Well done!"

All I could do was laugh and comment about 'silent women.'

I NEVER SAID A WORD! What an astounding legal argument!

The judge was so aggravated, he announced that 'I need a break after that!'

So I meandered to the ladies room and he passed me, walking in a fashion that proclaimed his mood. As he passed, he commented 'sorry to make you come all this way for that.'

All I could say was 'thank you.'

Just astonishing!

I'm sure I missed the finer interpretations of the law simply because of my shock.

This is the 2nd time I have prevailed in court against the Town's Attorney and it has nothing to do with my expertise in the law.

The last time, I remained mostly silent, but I did quote the statute which is very clearly written.

It was the same statute that I had read to the Middleborough Assessor, Barbara Erikson on the telephone, to which she emphatically stated that I was wrong.

The Massachusetts General Law:
http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter59/Section61A

Section 61A. A person applying for an abatement of a tax on real estate or personal property shall, upon request, exhibit to the assessors the property to which the application for abatement relates and if required by said assessors, shall exhibit and identify such property, and further, shall, upon request, furnish under oath such written information as may be reasonably required by the board of assessors to determine the actual fair cash valuation of the property to which the application for abatement relates including, but not limited to, income and rents received, and the expenses of maintaining such property. Failure of the applicant to comply with the provisions of this section within thirty days after such request shall bar him from any statutory appeal under this chapter unless the applicant was unable to comply with such request for reasons beyond his control or unless he attempted to comply in good faith.

The Corruption of U.S. Custom and Border Protection

2011-10-17T15:59:00.006-04:00

An interesting article that raises provocative questions about major government expansion and the lack of planning.

Border agency's rapid growth accompanied by rise in corruption

Since October 2004, 132 U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees have been indicted or convicted on corruption-related charges. Rapid expansion and lack of funds for background checks are blamed.

By Andrew Becker and Richard Marosi

When Luis Alarid was a child, his mother would seat him in the car while she smuggled people and drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. She was the sweet-talking commuter, he was her cute boy, and the mother-son ploy regularly kept customs inspectors from peeking inside the trunk.
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FOR THE RECORD:
Corruption case: An earlier version of this online article showed a photo of the San Ysidro border crossing and included a caption that stated that a Border Patrol agent who was hired there was engaged in illegal activity. Although the caption did not name the person, it referred to Luis Alarid, who is now serving a seven-year sentence for corruption. Alarid, however, was a customs inspector, not a Border Patrol agent, and he was hired at the Otay Mesa crossing, not San Ysidro.

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Twenty-five years later, Alarid was back at the border in San Diego, seeking a job as a customs inspector. To get hired by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, he first needed to clear screening that examined his personal, financial and work histories.

Alarid had served in the Marines and Army, which was a factor in his favor. But there was cause for concern: His finances were in shambles, including $30,000 in credit card debt. His mother, father and other relatives had been convicted of or indicted on charges of smuggling.

After the background check and an interview, Alarid was cleared for a border posting.

Within months, he turned his government job into a lucrative criminal enterprise. In cahoots with a gang that included his uncle and, allegedly, his mother, Alarid let cars into California filled with drugs and illegal immigrants.

"I was inside now, going around understanding how things work," Alarid said in a telephone interview from federal prison in Kentucky, where he is serving a seven-year sentence for corruption.

Alarid's is one of several corruption cases in recent years that have raised concerns about the adequacy of the customs agency's screening, a joint examination by The Times and the Center for Investigative Reporting has found.

As the agency rapidly increased staffing, the system designed to identify shady job applicants struggled to keep pace, resulting in hurried background checks and loosened hiring standards, said former and current Customs officials, background investigators and Border Patrol union officials.

At a congressional hearing in June, Customs Commissioner Alan Bersin acknowledged screening problems, and other officials have said that insufficient funding created a backlog of background investigations. "The accelerated hiring pace under which we operated between 2006 and 2008 … exposed critical organizational and individual vulnerabilities within," Bersin said.

Alarid's case and others also highlight the difficulty of assessing job candidates: Should prospective agents, for instance, be rejected because of the crimes of relatives? Should a background in Mexican law enforcement be enough to disqualify a candidate because of that country's rampant police corruption? Are high debt levels a sign of recklessness or the consequence of a weak economy?

Border agents and Customs inspectors are exposed to endless illegal moneymaking opportunities. Dozens of officers in recent years have turned their government jobs into illicit riches, funding desert estates and Las Vegas gambling binges, luxury cars and buying sprees at Tiffany's.

"It's such a perfect storm, if you will, down there along the southwest border, with the vast supply of money and the aggressive tactics of the cartels," said Terry Reed, an FBI supervisory agent.

Since October 2004, 132 Customs employees have been indicted or convicted on corruption-related charges, the majority from the Southwest border. Since 2006, the number of investigations has more than tripled, from 244 to about 870 last year, according to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General.

Of the 24,000 Customs agents along the southwest border, about half were hired in the last five years. The agency is on track to hire 2,500 additional agents in the next year.

Job requirements at Customs, for which agents don't need a high school diploma, have always been more lenient than at other federal agencies. The FBI, for example, requires a college degree and relevant work experience. Critics contend that the Border Patrol traditionally hired candidates with some military or college experience but that that changed in recent years, when the ranks were filled with younger and less-experienced applicants, some still in their teens.

W. Ralph Basham, Customs commissioner from 2006 until 2009, said he told high-ranking officials at the Department of Homeland Security that he was not comfortable with the agency's rapid expansion. Those concerns were dismissed.

"We cautioned against this strategy, but we were under tremendous pressure along the Southwest border to do something," Basham said.

The sharp increase in corruption cases has resulted in reforms. Customs started bolstering its internal affairs division in 2007, and Congress last year passed legislation that requires all prospective agents by 2013 to undergo polygraph testing.

So many applicants were awaiting screening in 2009 that the turnaround time was 294 days, government statistics showed. In some cases, investigators under pressure to work faster cut corners by doing fewer, or shorter, interviews of candidates' former employers, landlords and relatives. Some of the background checks are done by outside contractors who get paid per investigation and have an incentive to quickly complete the reviews.

Whenever there's a big fluctuation in hiring, it puts a real strain on the selection process and background investigations involved," said William Henderson, a retired government background investigator and author of a security clearance manual.

The backlog has also hampered reviews of veteran agents, who often don't undergo the required five-year periodic investigations until years later, said background investigators and agents.

Even with sufficient time, screeners can't always get a full picture of an applicant's life. John Paul Yanez-Camacho, for instance, was a former law enforcement officer from the Mexican state of Chihuahua and a manager of a nightclub in Ciudad Juarez owned by a suspected drug trafficker when he applied in 2003 to be an inspector. But investigators didn't know his full employment history, in part because the Mexican government doesn't permit U.S. background investigators to conduct probes in their country.

Two years after being hired, Yanez-Camacho started accessing a sensitive law enforcement database without authorization. From 2005 to 2006, he did so more than 250 times, often trying to get information about law enforcement investigations involving the suspected drug trafficker, according to his plea agreement.

Authorities suspected that Yanez-Camacho was passing along confidential information, but his motives remain a mystery. "He can't explain how he did that, why he did that and why he compromised his situation at the port of entry," Assistant U.S. Atty. Ed Weiner said at a court hearing in 2009 at which Yanez-Camacho was sentenced to probation for the misdemeanor violation.

Agents who are longtime border residents are often more susceptible to corruption because they often inherit networks of family members involved with organized crime, Customs officials say.

Former Border Patrol agent Salomon Ruiz, convicted of corruption in 2009, had uncles who were longtime smugglers in the McAllen, Texas, area, and his father had been deported to Mexico for drug trafficking. Jesus Huizar, a border patrol agent convicted in 2008, partnered with his wife's uncle, a known trafficker, in a human-smuggling scheme in El Paso.

The Customs agency could address the problem by forbidding most agents from working in their hometowns. But relocation is costly, and it's harder to find applicants who want to move, border authorities said.

The background investigator for Alarid, the San Diego customs inspector, asked him if he had contact with his parents. Alarid, who was raised in foster homes for much of his youth, said no. It was a lie.

Alarid was proud of his family's smuggling pedigree. He said he idolized his grandfather, a longtime drug trafficker from Baja California who in 1978 was indicted on trafficking charges. He'd visit with his father, a convicted drug dealer, and he'd take groceries and money to his often-homeless mother, who had served jail terms for smuggling and arson convictions.

But Alarid had a lot going for him. He was a high school track star and received commendations for his military service in Kosovo and Iraq. When his employment application was forwarded to an adjudicator who made hiring decisions, the adjudicator decided in Alarid's favor.

Alarid's large debt "was carefully reviewed, and there was believed to be mitigating factors, and there was a determination of suitable," said James Tomsheck, the agency's assistant commissioner for internal affairs.

Within months of going to work for Customs in October 2007, the rookie opened the gates. On cigarette breaks he would make calls to smugglers in Tijuana, telling them which lane at the port of entry he was handling. Over a four-month period, Alarid's scheme earned him about $200,000.

Some federal officials and investigators question Alarid's hiring. Screeners should have delved deeper into his relationship with his biological parents, and his debt seemed excessive, they said.

"There should have been some red flags that went up there. That guy should never have been hired," said Earl Stickler, a background investigator from Arizona.

Even Alarid, 35, wonders how he got the job.

"If I was a background investigator, I wouldn't have hired me," he said.

This report was published in cooperation with the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting in Berkeley, where Becker is a staff writer.